Discovering the Sun
by EstiRose
Summary: Kagami has a destiny he doesn't know about. AU Kamen Rider Kabuto; WIP; Kagami/Tendou
1. Mirror

_**Disclaimer:** Characters don't belong to me._

_**Notes:** The first 50,000 words of this were written for NaNoWriMo 2006; it's kind of languished since then (I finished chapter 7 in 2009), but I'm starting to get inspiration on it again. It's Kagami/Tendou, though the slash aspects don't kick in until chapter 2. The AU behind this is simple; what if everybody knew about the Worms and ZECT?_

**Discovering the Sun**  
**by Estirose**  
**c 2006**

_Chapter 1: Mirror_

Kagami Arata shivered in the chill room, despite his long-sleeved shirt and suit jacket. Around him, others of his team swarmed over the crime scene - a crime scene being handled jointly by the agency he was a part of, ZECT, and partly by the police. Mostly because the police weren't familiar with all of the manifestations of Death By Worm. Some, yes. But the Worm was ZECT's specialty, so they were always called in when it was Worm-related.

"Kagami-kun!''

"Yes, Misaki-san?" Kagami asked, hurrying over to her side. She had a pair of gloves on, as he did, and was examining the body - refraining from touching it as much as possible.

The body itself was unusually intact, though mostly covered in a pale yellow foam substance that almost looked like it could glow in the dark. Whether the man had died of asphyxiation or a particularly virulent contact poison, Kagami had no desire to find out - at least not first-hand. Maybe, if he was lucky, if they decided he needed to know, he'd be told. Usually, he wasn't unless it was a life-endangering situation.

A lot of stuff was need-to-know in ZECT.

In happier times, ZECT had provided a liaison with the Worms when it came to Worm-human issues. It hadn't really needed the troopers, or to give its staff weapons training until seven years before.

Before Kagami had come into ZECT. When Kagami was too busy trying to get into the HIgh School of his choice. His father had always expected him to go into ZECT, and Kagami had always been expecting to follow in his father's footsteps.

That was, of course, before the meteorite-ship had landed, devastating Shibuya, and releasing a whole new variety of Worm.

His watch beeped, reminding him that part of his day was done, and part of it was just beginning. "Misaki-san, could you tell Tadokoro-san that I have to go?" he asked.

MIsaki-san gave him a distracted okay, too absorbed in the body to really care where their junior member was going. Of course, she knew anyway.

He'd have just enough time, if he hurried, to stop at his apartment and change clothes. Change his worldview. He was thankful that ZECT wasn't a secret agency or anything, even though the public wasn't quite sure of what exactly they did. And, truth be told, it wasn't exactly an exciting life, though there was a certain cache about working for it. Even if it was only because his father worked there.

The less said about his father, the better.

Kagami jogged over to where his bike was, starting it up and calculating the best course home. If he had to go in his suit, he would, he had before, but best to leave the two halves of his work life separate.

Not that they always did, of course. Misaki-san had made an effort to start coming to where he worked after she found out where it was, when work took her to the same neighborhood. She preferred stopping at ramen carts and soba shops, slurping up her food with a speed he could envy, but she made a special exception for the Bistro.

Kagami sped towards his apartment, dashing in and making a quick change of clothes. He'd soon caught on that keeping his Bistro clothes ready after finishing with his ZECT duties was a good thing. For one thing, he was nearly always running late, and shoving himself into more casual clothes was all that he had time for. He kept a spare set at the Bistro, of course, but it was better not to go charging in there in his suit jacket.

He barely remembered to lock his door, but did, his keys jangling as he raced back out to his motorcycle. He then zoomed off, making it to his parking place a block from his job in record time. He was fortunate that no police officer had investigated the speeding; while he enjoyed a small protection when he was doing his duties as a member of ZECT, he wasn't on duty now.

Locking down the motorcycle, he jogged to the Bistro La Salle, the small cafe where he worked at his second job. It was definitely far less hazardous than his first job, unless snipes about his timeliness record were taken into account. It wasn't anything he could do about, anyway, since ZECT wasn't too considerate about second jobs.

If it hadn't been for that second job, however, Kagami would have probably gone nuts. It wasn't bad thing to be privy to things the general public didn't know about, but ZECT superiors had insisted on assigning him to a field team. A field team faced much more danger than someone working in-house. The only thing that made it good was that he got to see more than someone working in-house.

He hurried into the Bistro La Salle, quickly surveying the room. For the moment, they had no customers. He spotted Takemiya-san conversing with Hiyori, his morning-shift coworker. Kagami wondered briefly if Hiyori was going to stay for the afternoon shift; she sometimes did, especially when Takemiya-san thought that the afternoon rush was too much for Kagami.

"Hi," he said as the two of them looked over at him. "I'm here."

Hiyori rolled her eyes, while Takemiya-san gave him a wan smile. Kagami hoped he'd never get to the point where Takemiya-san felt that she had to let him go. If she let him go, chances were good that he'd have to go full-time into working for ZECT, something he wasn't sure he wanted to do.

But Takemiya-san let it go. "I'm expecting a heavy shift," she said simply, and Kagami was glad that he wasn't truly late or anything. Tadokoro-san was willing to let him go off even when the investigation wasn't complete; he didn't insist on Kagami staying, unless it was critical. That had happened once or twice, and by some miracle, Takemiya-san had taken it in stride.

Then again, Takemiya-san took a large amount of things in stride, including Kagami and Hiyori. In fact, from the look on her face sometimes, she took pride in her eccentric staff.

Hiyori turned to take care of a table that had just been cleared, and Kagami made use of the distraction to hurry into the kitchen and get his apron. He was glad not to have to change; just putting on the simple apron seemed to cause him no amount of trouble.

It was still better than working full-time at ZECT. Takemiya-san didn't care who his father was. Well, his father was apparently a regular customer, but only when he wasn't there. But beyond that, Takemiya-san didn't really know what ZECT was, and didn't care that Kagami's father was extremely powerful in the organization.

He hurried out, joining Hiyori in the setting up of tables before the afternoon rush.

Tadokoro-san was growling at everybody in his path. Kagami let his supervisor by, hoping that by sheer unimportantness, he'd escape the man's wrath. Tadokoro-san was middle-aged and someone Kagami never dared cross; if Tadokoro-san wanted him to do something, he did it, the same way he would if Misaki-san did.

He supposed this was related to the corpse the previous day. "Potential host," one of the troopers loosely assigned to the unit had remarked within his earshot, either not aware that he could hear, or assuming that Kagami had clearance.

Potential host. Someone that ZECT thought could pair with one of the Zecters, semi-intelligent machines created by the Worms to protect both their own kind and the humans they shared the planet with. This one had no doubt been on the way to a meet with the staff and the Zecter to see if he was compatible, or had just been about his business with the unfortunate luck to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Misaki-san," he wondered out loud to the ZECT technician, "Do they think it's an alien, or... rogue?" Maybe if he asked casually and directly enough, Misaki-san would tell him. If she knew. Sometimes even she didn't know.

"They're saying alien," Misaki said just as casually. "It doesn't have the hallmark of any of the natives. She looked at the new corpse. "What troubles me is this one is targeting potential hosts."

Kagami nodded. He'd never tested for being a host, mostly because for some reason he'd never been allowed to test. He just hoped someday that he'd be allowed to. He'd heard rumors that it was terrible being a host and Tadokoro-san was blocking any of them from being tested. Other rumors were that his own testing was being prevented by someone much higher up with a grudge against him.

He wasn't sure, since he'd never seen a Zecter in action. Currently, the rumor was that several of them were without hosts, thus most ZECT employees had never seen one in action. There were also rumors that the Worms, the ones who had helped humankind develop the Zecters, were becoming impatient with ZECT's inability to find hosts.

And, heaven knew, humankind needed the Zecters in action. Ever since the Shibuya meteorite had come down, bringing its own cache of Alien Worms, both humans and Worms had been hard-pressed to counter the invasion.

The Worms of this planet, who had been awakened after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were humanity's friend. Very few disputed that. However, he knew the Japanese government had wished that their non-human partners had bothered to tell them that they weren't native to Earth, and that their cousins could come back at any time.

But the Worms, the Worm, were closed-mouthed about a lot of things. Kagami had, like the vast majority of the population of Japan or the rest of the world, never met a Worm in its native form. As a member of ZECT, he'd run across undisguised Worms, but they were always ones to fight against, not to fight with. Like their invading cousins, the 'native' populations of Worms preferred a human form, to hide among and blend with the natives. Sometimes Kagami wondered if Tadokoro-san or Misaki-san were Worms, but he'd never ask. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

And they'd never tell, if they were.

"Have they..." he stopped short. It was possible that a Worm had hacked into ZECT, using the skills of one they'd killed, but no Worm could penetrate headquarters without the staff knowing that it was a Worm.

"We don't know," she said, shaking her head. Kagami gave her a brief nod before turning back to grab some equipment, make it look like he was doing something useful.

And as he did, something buzzed over his head. Was it a bug? It seemed awfully large to be one, and Worms were a little larger than human-sized, not that small. "Misaki-san," he called, gaining her attention. When she came over, he pointed at it. "What's that?"

Misaki-san just stared. "It's a Zecter," she said, as if unable to believe her eyes. "It must be looking for its host."

"Or mourning for him?" Kagami asked, thinking of the dead man.

"Or mourning for him," Misaki said. "But I'm guessing it's looking for its host."

Kagami nodded. "Right." He moved off, away from Misaki-san, towards the Zecter, in an almost roundabout fashion. He didn't want to scare it. He wanted to be with it. Have it choose him.

But the Zecter, as if sensing his presence, flew off. Kagami stared at where it had been, just a minute before.

He stared after it. He wanted to shout "I wasn't going to hurt you!" at the Zecter, as if it was going to do any good. Zecters picked who they wanted to pick, sometimes regardless of the host's feelings on the matter, or so he'd been told. Nobody he'd ever talked to had dealt with a Zecter, so it was a kind of a common wisdom, a bit of training. An unwilling host could occur, bundle them up to headquarters to see if the host could be persuaded to fight or if headquarters needed to convince the Zecter to choose another host.

And the Zecter he'd just met didn't want to deal with him anyway. His head drooped almost unconsciously. Maybe he'd gone through some screening somewhere that they'd decided he was unfit as host to a Zecter, or maybe he was naturally repellant to Zecters. But then again, if ZECT had let every agent know that they could be chosen as a potential host, why would they admit him if he wasn't meant to be?

Maybe he just hadn't been chosen yet. That was it. Maybe they were hoping that he'd be chosen by one, but they were waiting for something. He smiled, feeling infinitely better as he walked back to the scene.

He was relieved when Misaki-san announced they were nearly done. Kagami hated standing around; it made him twitchy. Neither his schoolteachers nor his father had ever been able to correct that habit. Not that being enclosed in the dark, cramped space of the van was much better, but it was better than standing around. He seemed, or at least felt, that he had more patience when he was in the van. Maybe he felt more useful. At least he was permitted to do things there.

Most of the time, he was standing around, waiting for Misaki-san or Todokoro-san to need an extra hand. One of the troopers could have done his job, and far better than how he did it, or at least he felt that way sometimes. Once again, he had the sense that they were waiting for something, but he wasn't quite sure what. He wasn't even sure that they knew what he was waiting for.

In the meantime, he'd stand around, wait, and feel far more useful at the Bistro. There, he was one employee out of two, essential to the well-being of the business. Here, he was just a junior flunky spending a lot of time waiting for his chance to shine.

Tadokoro-san was a good boss as bosses went, but he hated waiting. It may have been his lack of patience that kept him from rising up on the ladder, but that impatience was part of him. He'd learn to tame it, they didn't stand a chance.

He noticed a briefcase, one of the thick metal padded ones, sitting just inside where he usually sat when he wasn't working on one of the computers or otherwise monitoring things. It was unlocked, so he opened the lid.

Foam padding surrounded a metal belt with a wide spot in the front middle, a belt buckle that didn't buckle. The receiving point for a belt-based Zecter, no doubt. There were supposedly belt-based Zecters, wrist-based Zecters, and weapon-based Zecters. He had no idea which kind the Zecter he'd seen was, but he touched the belt reverently. A belt here meant that someone thought a Zecter's choice of host was imminent and that they needed to be there, to provide the belt if needed and to send the lucky soul to headquarters.

The belt sparked as he ran his fingers against the surface, and he yelped as he snached his fingers away. He looked around, but neither Tadokoro-san or Misaki-san seemed to be in earshot. He quickly closed the case, hoping they didn't notice he'd opened it. He wondered if the belt was as intelligent as the Zecter and that he'd just experienced rejection, or it was some sort of alarm. Or even static electricity.

In any case, it was obvious that he wasn't going to be handling this belt, other than maybe getting lucky and quickly handing the belt to its new owner. He probably wouldn't even get that lucky, it was probably Misaki-san or Todokoro-san who got that duty, he'd probably be stuck reassuring the new person.

On the other hand, it occured to him that it wasn't so bad. If he could make friends with a Zecter's host, he would at least be around a Zecter, see what they did. That would be cool. And it might get him considered for a Zecter of his own, which would be good too.

Of course, this depended on Tadokoro-san's team finding the new host, which wasn't a given, especially if they didn't want to be found. Headquarters hadn't said what to do if the new host was a reluctant host, just that they needed to be brought to headquarters. Kagami wondered briefly if Headquarters expected them to be sedated or what, and then shivered. Maybe he really didn't want to know.

He would choose to be a host, though, and he was in ZECT, so no problem there. If he was chosen, he'd be whisked off to headquarters, they'd acknoweldge the fact, and then he'd be free to do... well, whatever hosts did for ZECT. Got called to fight Worms likely.

Sometimes Kagami got sick of not knowing about that, especially since he sometimes dreamed of becoming a host. He'd woken up one morning still grasping his imaginary Zecter, and was glad he lived alone. He'd have been mortified if he'd had to explain that.

Misaki-san climbed into the van, followed shortly by Tadokoro-san. Probably some analysis to be done, he realized, before they took off. He had a good hour or so before he had to leave for his Bistro La Salle shift, and he could only hope that something exciting would happen before he fell asleep.

Falling asleep... well, he probably wouldn't be kicked out of ZECT for it, not with his father, but it wasn't something that was very professional, and if he hoped to make anything of himself while he was in ZECT, he probably wanted to avoid taking a nap in the van.

But without realizing it, he closed his eyes. Or maybe he did realize it, but only intended to keep them shut for a moment.

The next thing he knew was that Misaki-san was shaking him roughly. He stammered out an apology.

"Your other job," she said firmly. He nodded, running out of the van, back to his own bike.

He hurried towards his bike, narrowly missing another man. He refrained from snapping at the man; after all, he was in a hurry, he other man wasn't. However, he had to take a second look.

The young man he'd crashed into was about his age, maybe a bit older. His hair was a bit untidy, curls going where they shouldn't, making a mess of things. He was wearing wooden sandals, ones that Kagami had rarely seen on a man of his own age. A grey top that recalled earlier times graced his torso, and he held a bowl as if nothing in the world mattered to him.

In other words, Kagami had nearly collided with a weirdo. Who knows what would have happened if he'd run into the guy? Given his intense concentration on keeping the bowl straight, he'd probably lay into Kagami, either physically or verbally. And that wasn't what Kagami needed.

As Kagami watched, another man, not watching, darted around the corner. "Watch out!" he called.

But even as he shouted his warning, the man with the bowl dodged. Without looking to see where the running man was, he stepped to one side, careful not to spill whatever was in there. The running man continued unheeding, and the man with the bowl stopped, turned around, and smiled. Then he turned back as if nothing had happened, and continued on.

"Weirdo," Kagami muttered.


	2. Heaven

**Chapter 2: Heaven**

The days passed in a blur for Kagami. No progress was being made in Tadokoro-san's investigation, the troops were getting restless, and Kagami himself found it harder to stay awake during his hours with ZECT.

That was, when they were doing no more than investigating. Occasionally, the team and the associated troopers were called out to an attack. That was at least a bit more exciting, even if he stayed well out of the way of the fight.

It was during one such fight that Kagami saw the Zecter again.

The ZECT troops had been called to fight a pack of Worms. Alien Worms, really, since the native version had a larger "hood" than their alien foes. Or at least Kagami had been told. He made a mental note someday to try to meet one of their native Worms. Especially in their native forms and not their human, emulated ones. He'd probably met a few of those without realizing it, a side effect of working for ZECT.

Kagami himself was supposedly staying out of battle. He was support staff, after all, not a trained trooper. He could have gone that way, but he'd had a feeling that that's not where he was wanted. Again, he had to wonder if someone up there had some specific idea of what to do with him, or if it was just nobody wanted to tell Kagami Riku, his father, that he'd died in action.

On the other hand, he wasn't keen on watching a trooper die in his place, if he could help it. He'd no doubt get lectured, get reprimanded, once more, but if he could save someone, it would be worth it. ZECT's troopers were considered more expendable than its support staff, but it still didn't mean that he had to stand by and watch them die.

He technically knew how to work the gun; all field agents were trained in that, even if they weren't likely to ever use one. Someone higher up had no doubt figured that even support staff might need to use one in an emergency, and better to teach them than to lose them. Kagami was very grateful for it.

But he didn't need to grab it, for a graceful red streak slammed into the advancing Worm, giving the trooper a chance to get out of the way. He ran around the Worms, who were still startled by the appearance of the Zecter, and chased it. If he could convince it that it needed a partner, needed to fight, needed to choose him instead of anybody else, then he'd be a host. With a partner. He wouldn't be falling asleep in the van anymore.

He chased it up the stairs, calling to it. As if it could hear him, though maybe it could. Maybe it even understood him. But it was ignoring him, racing up the building as if it expected to find something there.

And then somebody caught the Zecter.

Someone familiar, if vaguely.

Black shirt, tan pants, unruly hair. Kagami's brain struggled to put the pieces together. Familiar somebody. Who?

Then his brain clicked. The weirdo from the other day, the one with the wooden block sandals and the bowl.

"You!"

It was the only coherent word that came out of his mouth. Kagami would, in the future, wish that he had managed something more useful. But the exclamation was out, the other man was still there, and he had the Zecter in his hand.

Now this weirdo was a host. Now he'd have to find out who he was, how to deal with him, how to get him back to headquarters.

But at the moment, none of that was taking priority in his brain. Instead, he stood there, wishing that had been him, and then realizing, abruptly, that some Worms had followed him up.

He froze. He could hear the man saying something, but it was too soft under the pounding of his heart.

But he heard one word.

"Henshin."

Kagami had, of course, heard of what happened next. The armor formed around the man's body in hexagonal patterns of light that left solid portions behind. In a matter of seconds, the man was in full armor, charging between Kagami and the Worm. Kagami stepped away, allowing the man to enter combat completely.

With the man - host, Kagami corrected himself, the man was a host - engaged in battle, Kagami got a better look at the situation. At least half a dozen Worms had followed him up the stairs, outnumbering himself and the man.

He desperately wished for a weapon at that moment, but none was handy. He'd foolishly ran away from any defense he had, and was now relying on this stranger to save his life and make sure no Worms got through. Kagami made a mental note to himself to not get into this situation again. Or, he added silently, any situation like it. He could see why support staff always had troops nearby now.

But the stranger was handling the Worm as if he was born to it. As if he'd done it before. If he was a known host, why didn't he have ZECT backup? Hosts usually did, unless they were new and ZECT hadn't brought them in yet.

For that matter, he had a belt before ZECT had provided him one. This wasn't impossible; sometimes new hosts had their devices mysteriously appear, and neither the hosts themselves, ZECT, or the Worms working with them knew precisely why.

But he still looked like he'd been a host for years, had experience with the armor and the Zecter, even if ZECT didn't know of him. The apparent contradictions swirled around in Kagami's mind as he stayed as far away from the battle as possible. Impulsive and overeager he was, unable to stay still, he was, but even he wasn't eager to face death at the hands of a Worm. Especially when said Worm might use his form to infiltrate ZECT.

So he stood there, watched the stranger fight, and hoped that he'd find out soon if this was a ZECT member or new host. And if he was a new host?

Maybe Kagami's dreams of befriending someone in power would come true.

The last Worm exploded in a green fireball, and the armor disappeared as the Zecter did, leaving the strange man standing there with the belt around his waist. Kagami dashed down the stairs. "Who are you?" he asked, clamping down on the other questions he wanted to ask, concentrating on that one, important question. Well, one of a series of important questions, but it helped if he knew who he was talking to.

"Tendou Souji," the stranger replied. He raised one hand, one finger pointing towards heaven. "Walking the path of heaven, the man who will rule over all."

Kagami resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. His first impression was right: the guy was a weirdo. Or arrogant as hell. Or both.

Personally, Kagami was tempted to say both. But ZECT didn't have any choice when it came to hosts. The Zecters chose them, and ZECT had to accept them, deal with them. Even if they were weird. "Right." Tendou Souji looked faintly amused at his response, and so Kagami forged ahead. "Could you please come with me?"

"Why?" Tendou asked simply. Kagami felt like he was a peasant, asking his lord and master to do something that he wasn't really interested in doing.

"Well, you're a..." Kagami wasn't quite sure, suddenly, how to explain things. Especially to this man who seemed to know more than he should. "Anyway, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Let Tadokoro-san handle the newcomer. He had a presence that Kagami didn't. Or Misaki-san could. She could no doubt charm this strange newcomer. Just not Kagami. Tendou-san was somebody he wasn't sure that he could handle, and maybe Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san couldn't handle him either. But he had to let them try.

Tendou-san responded by walking down the stairs, ignoring Kagami, who hurried after him. When the two of them reached the bottom, Kagami rushed around him to block his way. "Here, they're right over here."

The man just looked at him as if he was a particularly interesting bug. "I will make my own choices," he said, as if Kagami had said something particularly repugnant. He then walked off in a direction away from where the ZECT officers were, as if he knew.

Maybe he did. Maybe he was rogue. Rogue hosts weren't as bad as rogue worms. Yes, they'd left ZECT, but ZECT valued the input of the native Worms to ever kill, hurt, or torture a host, or rider, as they were sometimes called. ZECT just didn't leave them alone. Once Kagami gave Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san the information, they'd trace this Tendou Souji down, and someone else could handle him. Someone who could handle eccentrics or rogue riders.

He headed back to the van with a sense of relief.

Once he was there, he gave Misaki-san and Tadokoro-san the details of his meeting with Tendou Souji. His supervisor nodded gravely and sent Kagami out of the van while he talked to headquarters. Why, Kagami wasn't sure, but he figured Tadokoro-san had a reason. Probably figured that if the were calling someone in to handle the new host, they didn't want to hurt his feelings. Or something like that.

And it wasn't like he could tell them that it wouldn't hurt his feelings at all if someone else was called in to handle Tendou Souji.

After forever, Tadokoro-san let him and Misaki-san back in. Tadokoro-san's expression was stony; if one knew him well, as Kagami did, then it meant that headquarters had told him something that he didn't like. And even more, they'd told him he had to take a staff action he didn't like. Given his expression, and the look he gave Kagami, he not only didn't like the instructions he'd been given, but they involved Kagami. And he liked imparting them even less.

"You've been assigned to recruit Tendou Souji into ZECT."

"Me?" Kagami would have squeaked, if he weren't a guy. Guys didn't do that sort of thing. Instead, he managed to have it come out as a startled remark. "Why me?"

"Because you've had contact with him," Tadokoro-san said, "And headquarters feels that you might be able to bring him in."

Kagami's shoulders tried valiantly to slump as he considered that. His duty was to track down one guy, and persuade him to join ZECT? Not that he would have minded, but Tendou Souji, Mr. Egotistic Weirdo?

"Headquarters is sending you some information," Tadokoro-san said finally. "While we do cleanup, you need to read it."

Kagami nodded numbly while Tadokoro-san let him log into the mobile network. Once he verified his identity and was the only one in the van, the screen in front of him started filling up with information.

Within half an hour, Kagami knew what headquarters was willing to send him about how to handle a new host. Especially ones that were reluctant. The problem was that Kagami thought Tendou Souji was far beyond reluctant; he was definitely someone who believed himself superior to Kagami or ZECT, had he known about the organization. In any case, someone Kagami was in no mood to deal with.

He wondered briefly if it was some kind of a test. Well, if it was, he'd just survive it. He'd bring Tendou Souji in, kicking and screaming if he had to. Just to get the man out of his hair. He also had to wonder why headquarters was giving this to him *now*.

At least he knew more about Zecters. A little more. At least it said something.

"Continued interaction with a Zecter brings a host's biology closer to a Worm's, making transformation easier. If used long enough, the host becomes a Worm, but only after prolonged exposure." Kagami read the report with a shiver, suddenly glad that they'd kept him away from the Zecters. He suspected that he was being allowed to be this close to one was because it had a host, a partner. It couldn't endanger him.

And if his father knew about the effects of a Zecter on human biology, no wonder he was being kept away. No matter how Kagami Riku felt about the Worm, he likely didn't want his only son turning into one.

Finally, the screen started showing pictures of Zecters, at least the ones in use. He zeroed in on the picture of the red Zecter, the one he'd seen in Tendou Souji's hand that morning. "Kabuto," he murmured.

At least there was one good thing about being called upon to bring Tendou Souji in. He now had everything ZECT had on the other man, from schools to public records. And pictures. He had to wonder how they had the pictures. Had ZECT suspected he was a potential, untrained host? From ZECT's documentation, however, they might have. It looked like ZECT was always watching for potential hosts, to bring them in or at least know about them in advance. Which made sense; it was easier to bring them in if someone knew how to handle them.

Of course, that meant that they somehow thought he could handle Tendou Souji, and he had no clue why, even after going through all the information. If it was because of the similar ages, he longed to give them a lecture about just because he was Tendou Souji's age, didn't mean that he automatically got along with him.

In any case, he thought after he logged out of his session, he was stuck trying to bring Tendou Souji in for a while. Either he'd bring the man in, or he'd be a laughingstock and someone else would do it. Personally, he wasn't sure he would regret being a laughingstock.

He checked his watch. Time to get to work at his second part-time job, which meant time to deal with this new wrinkle in his ZECT job. He gathered his stuff and headed out.

Kagami approached the house with some trepidation. It was a typical house, didn't stand out from the others in the area, but it was where Tendou Souji and his little sister lived. A two-story house, but slim, it no doubt meant to imply luxury even with its relatively small size. As he stepped up to the gate, a girl in a schoolgirl's uniform rushed out. Tendou Juka, no doubt. Thirteen years old. Tendou Souji's little sister.

A figure appeared in the vacated doorway. Tendou Souji was smiling a little as he saw his sister off. The smile slipped as he looked down at Kagami, the arrogant look returning. Kagami stared back at him in return, silently letting him know that he wasn't going away this time. Tendou Souji had to deal with him as he had to deal with the other man.

"Come in," Tendou said. Kagami wasn't sure why hhe was dropping the -san off of Tendou's name, but maybe it was because the man seemed familiar to him ater the whole bio that ZECT had sent him. Maybe it was also because the man wneeded to be taken down a peg or two. If Kagami had read Tendou right, dropping the sufix would annoy him to no end.

Kagami opened the gate as if Tendou was going to drop the invitation at any moment, heard it clang closed, and hurried up to the door were Tendou was waiting. Tendou himself was waiting patiently, as if Kagami was a particularly slow student. Kagami wasn't sure he liked that, but for the moment, sucing up to Tendou might be easier. At least until he could hand Tendou of to somebody else.

*It's only temporary, it's only temporary,* he reminded himself repeatedly. Though as Tendou let him through the door, he wondered if that was going to be true.

If ZECT liked his performance enough, he might be stuck as Tendou's liason. Maybe it was better to fail, then. But if he wanted to move up the ranks, if he wanted a chance with another host, then maybe... maybe he'd have to put up with Tendou.

"Thanks," Kagami said as he took his shoes off and got into a spare set of slippers. He was led inside the house, looking curiously at the architecture. He wondered how things would change for Tendou, when he went into ZECT. He wondered how much hosts were paid. Better than he was, probably.

They reached the living room. Tendou still wasn't talking, so Kagami started up the conversation for him. "There's things I have to tell you."

"About the organization that you were with?" Tendou asked, as if the subject wasn't all that interesting to him.

"Yes. I'm part of ZECT, and we-"

"I know what ZECT does." Tendou settled down on a chair, and Kagami sat down on a couch. The living room was pleasant; there were flowers all around the windowsills, a small stairway led into what he presumed was a breakfast niche, and the decorations made it all seem light and airy.

"So you know what happened to you?" Kagami asked. If the man did, he knew more than the average ZECT agent. Maybe he knew a ZECT host. Or maybe he knew someone who did. But if so, why was he not jumping to join? Had he learned some of the things Kagami had recently learned about the long-term effect on hosts?

"Of course." Tendou said, and Kagami hoped he wouldn't go into the "ruler of all" spiel.

"Then you know that ZECT handles... people like you." He didn't say "host", since the information he'd been given said people reacted negatively to that word. He didn't blame them, if long-term use made them Worms. Of course, "host" implied that the Zecters were implanting something in them, so the new people were probably wary of that too.

He didn't know, however, how much Tendou knew about the situation, given that ZECT agents knew little about the Zecters and how they operated themselves. But he clearly more than the average person.

Of course, that could have been because he didn't think of himself as an average person. Mentally shaking his head, Kagami tried to remind himself that egotistical weirdo or not, he had to bring this man in. And egotistical weirdo that Tendou might be, but he did know something more than most people knew about. Or at least he thought he did.

"This is my destiny," Tendou said, and Kagami relaxed a bit. He could deal with this. He could work with this.

He was about to say something when Tendou spoke again, looking at him with an intense, pierecing gaze. "You will tell me more about ZECT."

"Um." He should have been ready for that. Far more ready than he seemed to be. "Well, ZECT is the liason between the Worms and the Japanese government. When the Shibuya meterorite came down seven years ago, a new, hostile version of the Worm came out. Teams like mine fight them."

It seemed like that wasn't what Tendou wanted to hear. Kagami tried not to fidget. "And people like you fight them too."

Tendou gave him a "well, duh" look that incorporated a wondering about how in the heck Kagami managed to dress himself in the morning. Kagami wished he were more eloquent, or somebody else had been assigned this duty.

"So, you don't know anything about your own organization, then," Tendou said, getting up. "I won't deal with you. You're ignorant."

"I'm doing the best that I can!" Kagami nearly exploded at Tendou's condemnation. "Look, I just wanted to tell you that ZECT would be happy to train you and provide you support. If you want another liason, I'll be glad to recommend that they provide you with one when you join."

"And if I don't join, I have you?" Tendou asked simply.

"Yes," Kagami said, gritting his teeth. Maybe he'd get lucky and they'd decide to replace him, but for the moment, Tadokoro-san had made it clear that Tendou was *his* responsibility.

Tendou contemplated that. Thought about it. Was digesting that. Well, if Tendou joined ZECT to get away from Kagami, Kagami could live with that too.

Still looking thoughtful, Tendou seemed to come to some conclusion. "When you learn more, come back to me."

That was a dismissal if Kagami ever heard one. He gave the new host a slight nod and let himself be let out, having not gotten very far in dealing with Tendou.

He hadn't succeeded. Of course, he hadn't failed yet either, and he had to remind himself of that. Tendou would come to see it his way, or at least join ZECT.

"One Worm, one innocent?" Kagami asked Misaki-san as they studied the image of the young woman on the monitor. It had been a few days since Kagami had tried recruiting Tendou into ZECT. Since that seemed impossible, Kagami had settled for trying to do his job and hoping that he'd either get inspired, learn what Tendou wanted him to learn, or be taken off the assignment to bring Tendou in. "And the Worm didn't kill the woman he mimicked?"

"Apparently not," Misaki-san said. "I'll be going in to see what I can learn about the one that got captured; you'll be keeping an eye out for the one that got away."

Standard surveilance. Unfortuanately, something that would free his mind to think about Tendou and their last conversation. He wondered if Tendou knew that they could mimic humans; after all, the native Worm rarely did so unless they had to or had gone rogue. Even if he didn't, he'd probably blast Kagami for not knowing much more than the average person about the Worm.

Tendou was needed. All the hosts were needed. Tendou had no idea about the Alien Worm. He had no idea that they happily killed the humans they chose to mimic. He didn't understand what had happened.

He didn't know about Kagami's little brother that had gone missing, or what Ryou had meant to him. He probably didn't care, either.

With that thought, Kagami struck out with the intent of finding the human. Or Worm. Whichever one was free. Worms tended to pick up the habits of the humans they mimicked, so Kagami was fairly sure that if he stayed in the area where the human tended to hang out, he'd likely run into either of them. The free one. Whatever.

He caught a glimpse of her in the crowd after a few moments. She was petite, still wearing the white coat that she - the other she - had been captured in. She was probably the Worm; the human would have had more sense to change her clothes. Unless she was too afraid to go home. And the Worm might think the way the human did, making it harder to tell them apart. If he could.

Kagami hoped that Misaki-san was doing better with the prisoner than he was doing with his target.

As he followed the woman down a ramp, somebody or something caught his shoulder. He instinctively froze and looked. Much to his relief, it wasn't a Worm, just merely Tendou being his stupid, eccentric self. "You."

"Tell me more about ZECT," Tendou commanded.

Kagami looked wildly at his target. Of all the times Tendou had to be somewhat cooperative, Kagami had to be chasing a target that he couldn't afford to lose? "Can I do it later?"

"Now," Tendou said, unyielding.

"Not now, I've got..." he trailed off, Tendou forgotten, as the woman disappeared. He jogged towards where she had last been seen, but she was nowhere in sight. "It figures."

And Tendou had disappeared. Shit.

"What were you doing?" Tendou asked, causing Kagami to jump.

"I was tailing a possible Worm," Kagami said. Maybe easing Tendou into his new world would be easier, work better. "We know it's a Worm - an Alien Worm - because the original is in jail." He then remembered that Tendou might not know about that little wrinkle in finding the Alien Worm. "All Worms can mimic people, but the Native ones don't bother much, since they have their own identities. But when an Alien Worm needs to move undetected among humans, they mimic someone. Perfectly. And then they kill them."

If there was one mercy, it was that he hadn't seen his little brother. And no Worm would be going around masquerading as somebody nearly three years missing.

Tendou looked thoughtful, and somehow managed to suggest something so shocking that Kagami couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?"

He somehow survived the day, though mostly because of Tendou's crazy plan and the fact that he, as a host, could deal with the Worm. Although Kagami could have done without nearly getting arrested for the jailbreak, at least the Worm was contained, the woman set free, and left alone to live her life with little explanation of why she had a doppelganger. But she seemed to be okay.

But he still didn't know how to handle Tendou. Maybe if he rested, thought about it, he would. But he was too tired to do so. He was starting to feel like it was possible, however. Maybe he would get through it... at least long enough to hand Tendou off to a trained liason.

There was a knock on his door. He wondered who of his neighbors even bothered to know who he was, and strode up to the door. Looking through the peephole, he rapidly unlocked the door. How Tendou got in, he didn't know. He supposed it was the same magic that had gotten him through a police station without getting arrested.

"Tendou! Come in." It occured to him that he'd not talked to Tendou much about what Tendou had wanted to know about; they'd been far too busy with the problem with the girl, and Tendou had slipped away before Kagami could introduce him to Misaki-san and Tadokoro-san. Tendou slipped off his shoes, and Kagami could only hope his only spare pair of slippers fit. They were, in essence, his father's, even though that man had never been to Kagami's relatively new apartment.

Kagami briefly wondered how Tendou had gotten to his place, or even knew where it was. Probably followed him or something like that. He wouldn't put anything past Tendou. He just hoped that Tendou could get back easily. On the other hand, if he had to take Tendou home, that would be good. He would raise himself up in Tendou's estimation and get him into ZECT. Definitely good.

He eagerly brewed up some tea. Probably not good enough for Tendou's tastes, but at least he had it. Tendou took deep sips and seemed to relax. "Tell me more about ZECT," he said, though with less intensity than he had earlier.

"Um." Might as well not try to sound more knowleable than he was, since that hadn't gone down well with Tendou the first time. "As I said, we fight the Worm. Mostly Alien, though occasionally you do run across a rogue Native worm. Usually the Native Worms hunt them down, not us."

Tendou's expression appeared to darken for some reason, so Kagami hastily continued, "Occasionally we do it, but mostly if we mistake them for Alien Worms, because it's sometimes hard to tell after they're molted." He paused. "We are really doing a lot of good. Please join us?"

"No," Tendou said resolutely. "Not until I'm sure of the organization and what it's doing."

That was a tall order, Kagami thought, given that ZECT was so need-to-know. Though maybe they thought hosts needed to know. Or maybe this particular host needed to know. He wouldn't put it past Tendou.

"In the meantime," Tendou said, "There is something I must discuss with you."

Kagami woke up the next morning to warm sheets and the smell of tea. He wondered if Tendou was still there, or if he'd left during the night, or just recently left.

Maybe he was still there. Kagami could stand to have a few questions of his own answered. Like why and when Tendou had become interested in him, and why he was interested in Kagami but not ZECT.

Yawning, Kagami got up, padding naked into his kitchen. That Tendou might be in there didn't bother him at all; the other man had seen a lot more than that, he suspected.

But as he stepped into his kitchen, he took a look around. His front door was unlocked, and while a tray contained rice and a cup of tea, there was no Tendou about.

Kagami hurried to lock the door before checking out the breakfast. What Tendou wanted was still a mystery, to be figured out maybe by the time Kagami got him into ZECT. Of course, if his superiors knew what had happened at his apartment last night, he not only wouldn't be the one bringing Tendou in, he'd not have a job anymore.

Best not to tell them, then. If things kept going well, nobody would ever know. Outside himself and Tendou, of course. And he could live with that.

In the meantime, he had the day off from both his jobs, and that was good. Kagami wasn't sure if he could deal with his job, either one of them, in his mood. Why had Tendou shown up? Why was he suddenly acting this way? If he didn't trust ZECT, why had he just slept with a member of ZECT.

And, of course, the most important question: why him? Why Kagami Arata, ZECT flunkie?

He'd likely get an answer to that about the same time Tendou joined ZECT. In other words, not anytime in the near future. Heck, he might never join, leaving Kagami either stuck in the role of recruiter or having passed on that responsibility.

Kagami shrugged into his clothes, wincing at a cumulation of bruises both internal and external. Nothing to be done about it now, if Tendou wised up and joined ZECT then that would be good. If he didn't, then...

Maybe they'd send one of the Native Worm to convince him! Kagami suddenly felt excited. The Worm were the ones that wanted Humans to be Zecter hosts, one of them could convince Tendou to join up! And he might be able to meet it. Even if it was in human form, he'd met a Worm that he knew was a Worm. A peaceful Worm.

In a slightly better mood, Kagami got his backpack on and headed out. Best to leave his place, best to run errands, best to think of what had happened away from where it happened.

And just hope no Worm attack, no calling in for overtime duties at either of his jobs, nothing where he might run into Kabuto's host. He willed the day to be quiet and non-memorable, and for a while, that's what it seemed to be doing.

Until the boy ran across the plaza, catching his attention. "Ryou?" he asked the air. Instinct made him trail the boy, and it occured to him after a few moments that he was probably chasing someone who just looked a whole lot like his little brother. As the boy slowed down, he slowed down to get a better look.

The boy was wearing a red-and-white checkered flannel shirt over a grey sweatshirt with a hood. His hair was barely shoulder-length, the ends barely touching the back of his neck.

And then he turned around, and Kagami stumbled forward, not believing what he saw. "Ryou?"

He was expecting the stranger with his brother's face to deny it, to be confused, to demand answers, to shrug it off. But the young man did nothing of the sort, just gave him a smile so reminiscent of his little brother's that Kagami's heart ached. "Hi, big brother."

"Ryou!" He couldn't believe it. Ryou? Alive? Why hadn't he come home? Why had he worried his family so much? Why had he been missing nearly three years? Had he been kidnapped? Or maybe had he lost his tolerance for their father?

On the last, Kagami could hardly blame him. He wished his father had paid as much attention to Ryou as he had to his elder son. After Ryou's disappearance, life in the Kagami family had gone on as if Ryou wasn't important, or never existed. If there wasn't a wedge between Kagami and his father before that, there certainly was now. "Where have you been?"

Ryou shrugged. "Around." So typical of Ryou. Probably went off to live with one of their relatives. His father probably knew this too, the bastard. Wanted Kagami to think that his little brother was dead or missing so that he'd become what his father wanted him to become, with no interference.

Sometimes, Kagami felt that his father had pressured him to join ZECT for more than the reason of having him go into the same agency that he belonged to, but it was nothing more than suspicion. It was like the fact that Kagami was in a field unit rather than safely sequestered in an office somewhere. The field job would have been full-time if he'd allowed it to be; his objection was the only thing that kept it part time, which was awkward for Tadokoro-san and himself. But he couldn't join ZECT full time, because that would be like giving in to his father and what his father wanted. And he couldn't do that.

"Did Dad kick you out?" That would be like his father. Wanting to forget about Ryou.

"Nah, I found a place to live where Dad couldn't lecture me," Ryou said cheerfully. "But you, big brother, you look good!"

Kagami couldn't help but smile. "Dad hasn't worn me down yet." He paused. "You on your way to club or anything?"

"I was on my way to play baseball, but the team will understand," Ryou said. "It's not every day that I'm reunited with my big brother!"

Grinning, Kagami threw his arms around his now-not-missing little brother. "It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Ryou said as they let go of each other. I'm sorry for disappearing like that. But it was for the best."

Kagami was still grinning. "I understand." He'd be annoyed at Ryou later, when he calmed down, he was sure. But for the moment, it was good to see Ryou back, alive, not missing.

Especially since the night he disappeared had involved flames and claw marks.

"Hey, I need to get to my game, but I'll catch you around. Where do you work nowadays, anyway?"

"Um... the Bistro La Salle, near Tokyo Tower. And ZECT."

Ryou gave him a look, his cheerful demeanor melting. "So he finally forced you in," he said plainly.

"Yeah," Kagami answered awkwardly. "It's not too bad. I'll have to tell you about it. Later."

The smile on Ryou's face returned. "Yeah, you will. Catch you later, big brother!"

With that, he was running off again, but Kagami didn't chase him. Ryou had to go where Ryou had to go, and he wasn't going to interfere.

Kagami sat down, still smiling. So Ryou wasn't dead! Maybe his father had used the attack, the Worm attack, to move Ryou to somewhere that Kagami wouldn't see him, and had been ordered to remain incommunicado. Or maybe Ryou had done it himself, and had stayed out of contact so that their father wouldn't know where he was.

In either case, Ryou was safe, and his day was looking up. Now was a good time to celebrate. He changed his course, heading for the Bistro La Salle. Hopefully they had some Mackerel Miso. He certainly felt like some today.

Still in a cheerful mood, Kagami walked back to his bike and drove to his parkin spot near the bistro. He pushed the door open. Even if his father or Tendou showed up, they couldn't break his wonderful mood.

He sat down at one of the tables, ignoring the only other patron there and signalling to Hiyori to get her over to his table. "Mackerel Miso," he said, hoping that they hadn't run out today, and that Hiyori had even cooked some.

From the smell, she had. Kagami waited for the dish to arrive, still caught up in the joy of finding Ryou again. Maybe he could persuade him to come back, so that they could stand up against their father together.

"You look happy."

Kagami came down from his euphoric mood as he recognized the speaker. Of course Tendou would be at the Bistro, he probably found the food as amazing as Kagami did. "Why shouldn't I be?" he asked.

Tendou ignored the question, sipping at tea in one of the Bistro's teacups. Kagami just hoped that he wasn't going to be subject to Tendou's ego for too long. He'd had it enough the night before, and that was enough to last him a week, easily. Continuing his thought, he said out loud, "I mean, I've just seen my little brother for the first time in three years. Hey, I should throw a party!"

A party would be good. A party would be real good. He hadn't seen Ryou in nearly three years, what better way to celebrate? Besides, he couldn't let Tendou's mood get him down. Today was a day to be happy, and he intended it to be a happy day.

Not that Tendou was doing much more than having tea, and if he wanted to be broody, it was no skin off Kagami's back. Tendou was a problem for another day, something to worry about on ZECT time doing his ZECT job.

Hiyori brought his Mackerel Miso to him, and his attention was on it. He could see Tendou asking a question of Hiyori, but it was in such low tones that he couldn't hear, nor did he really care. Hiyori answered in the same low tones before sweeping off to the Bistro's kitchen.

He caught Tendou staring at him, pondering him. But he didn't care. Tendou wasn't important, nothing was more important right now other than getting to know Ryou again. It occured to him that Tendou might feel more connected to ZECT if he got to meet Kagami's little brother. Then again, knowing Ryou's attitude towards ZECT? Maybe they'd strike a chord over the mystery of ZECT.

Abruptly, Tendou got up, giving Hiyori his money before walking out the door and off somewhere. Probably was jealous of the attention he was giving to Ryou instead of him. Still wasn't Kagami's problem. He ate his Mackerel Miso with gusto and went out to enjoy the rest of his day.

As soon as he stepped into the van the next day, Misaki was there with a photo. Kagami took it curiously, and when he got a good glimpse of the subject, he blinked. "Ryou?"

"This is your brother, isn't it?" Misaki-san said calmly. "Kagami Ryou. Disappeared three years ago. Headquarters thinks he's a Worm mimic."

It made sense... but it couldn't be. He'd touched Ryou. Talked to Ryou. It was Ryou.

And how had they known about Ryou anyway? Had headquarters decided he needed to be followed, to be monitored, to make sure he was doing his job in bringing Tendou in? He hoped not. He hoped he was better at spotting tails than that.

It couldn't be the people in the cafe. He, Takemiya-san, Hiyori, and Tendou had been the only people in the restaurant. Takemiya-san and Hiyori had only a vague idea of what ZECT was, and Tendou didn't trust the organization yet, so it wasn't like any of them would have blabbed.

Unless... unless someone else was being brought in to recruit Tendou and he hadn't been told yet. If they were testing him, they wouldn't tell him he was being taken off. Tendou was recalitrant enough not to tell him that there was a second recruiter out there.

Or maybe Tendou was a ZECT operative and was a test to see how Kagami could handle such a situation. Gods, he hoped Tendou wouldn't tell his superiors of what had happened the night before.

In any case, ZECT shouldn't know about his little brother, and why had they come to the conclusion that he was a Worm?

"A Worm mimic?" he managed. "Ryou?"

Misaki-san looked at him sternly, just as she always did when she thought his mouth was working before his brain kicked in. "Oh, right."

"Kagami-kun," she said, the suffix reminding him of how young she thought he was, "Where is he?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I didn't ask him."

Misaki-san frowned. "Would you be able to find him again?" she asked persistently.

"Or he could find me," he said. If he could get Ryou back, he could prove that he was a human and not a Worm! Then they'd leave Ryou alone and everything would be okay again. "I'll get him for you, Misaki-san."

The woman gave him a curt nod. "That's what Headquarters wants."

"Right," Kagami said. "And what about Tendou?" Maybe Misaki-san would say that Tendou would be taken off his hands.

"He's the one who told me," Misaki-san said.

"Tendou?" Kagami managed. "Told you... about Ryou?" Well, that explained how ZECT knew, though not whether the whole setup with Tendou was a test or not.

"He suggested I investigate. I looked into the matter, and reported to Headquarters." She paused. "You do realize that there's a good chance that this is a Worm, and not your brother?"

"Yes," Kagami said, "But that means that there's a chance he's really my brother, too!" Without waiting for Misaki-san's dismissal, he hurried out of the van and back to his motorcycle, intent on getting back to the plaza where he'd seen Ryou last. If Misaki-san wanted him to spend the rest of his ZECT hours this way, he'd oblige.

It occured to him that he'd be followed. He swore, taking an indirect route to the plaza, doubling around to make sure he wasn't followed.

When he reached the plaza, he relaxed. Nobody would be privy to him talking to Ryou, if Ryou came through. Ryou probably would, if he had a chance, because he knew his brother and he knew that his brother would be there.

He didn't get far, however, before someone caught his arm. He swung around. "Tendou!"

"Where is your brother?" the other man demanded.

"I don't have to tell you," Kagami said sullenly. Tendou had told Misaki-san about Ryou; Kagami wasn't really in the mood to cooperate with Kabuto's host at the moment. He wrenched his arm out of Tendou's grip. "You told Misaki-san about him."

"You were delusional," Tendou said. If it had been a pleading tone, Kagami could have lived with it, but imparted in Tendou's sure, arrogant tones, it mad him not want to give Tendou anything. "That is not your brother!"

"And how can you be so sure?" Kagami reasoned. "Just because he suddenly shows up doesn't mean he's a Worm mimic; it just means he and I lost touch. It happens."

"After nearly three years?" Tendou asked, scorn still lacing his voice. Kagami seriously considered asking to be taken off the assignment of bringing Tendou in.

"Who told you that? I didn't tell you that!" Kagami exclaimed. And then he calmed down a little. Tendou was trying to provoke him, and he was falling right for it.

"Hiyori did," Tendou said simply, and Kagami wondered when Kabuto's host had gotten on a first-name basis with his co-worker. And why Hiyori was telling his personal information to Tendou. Of course, he couldn't confront Hiyori about that until later. First he had to get rid of Tendou, preferably without injuring the host in question.

"It was none of Hiyori's business," Kagami said sullenly. "And none of yours, either."

Tendou turned a sharp glare on Kagami. "You will take me to him, now."

"You aren't ZECT, I don't take orders from you, and find him yourself," Kagami told him. Tomorrow, he'd ask to be taken off this assignment before he killed this guy. Well, he wouldn't kill him, but he certainly wished the man would go away and leave him alone.

Tendou was still glaring at him - or at least looking rather irritated - so he walked away. He was telling the truth, if Tendou chose not to believe it, then that was his problem, not Kagami's.

At least he doubted Tendou would chase him. It didn't seem like his style. Follow him, yes, which meant that Kagami could only hope that Ryou didn't come and visit, and he could lose Tendou. If he didn't stay at the plaza, then Ryou couldn't find him.

He walked off. But before he could make it out of there, a friendly voice hailed him. "Hey, big brother!"

Shit.

"Hey, Ryou," he said, hiding his frustration behind a smile. "Didn't think I'd see you here today."

Ryou smiled back. He had changed his outfit, at least a little, to a grey wooly shirt over a red sweatshirt. "I knew you'd come."

Kagami nodded. "We should meet somewhere else."

Ryou looked thoughtful. "Anywhere you want."

"How about where we used to play..." Kagami said, trailing off. If it was Ryou, then he'd know. And it would make their meeting safe from ZECT and Tendou.

"That sounds good." Ryou was smiling again. "Hey, friend of yours?"

Kagami looked back. Tendou. "Sort of," he said, not quite ready to explain his current ZECT duty to his little brother who despised everything their father stood for.

"Hi," Ryou said appraisingly. "Do you work with my brother?"

"No," Kagami said empathetically.

"Yes," Tendou responded, almost at the same moment.

Ryou's smile faltered. "Are you with ZECT?" he asked, and Kagami gave him an apologetic look. Tendou was not ZECT, but that would change if ZECT had anything to do with it, and it wasn't like he worked for the restaurant.

"No," Tendou said.

"He cooks," Kagami said, suddenly remembering he'd left without eating his breakfast."

"Oh!" Ryou said, smiling again. "So you work with my brother in the restaurant."

Kagami could only hope that Tendou let Ryou's mistaken assumption stand. The last thing he needed was a long explanation about hosts and Tendou and he didn't even want to go into the last night. Of course, Ryou didn't need to know about that anyway, even if Kagami could explain the bizarre circumstances.

But Tendou thankfully remained silent. Kagami could feel his arrogance, didn't even have to look to know that Tendou thought his little brother was a Worm.

Which Ryou could still be, but Kagami wanted him to be real. Wanted him to be Ryou. Mixed Worm-human families could work, he'd heard of a couple of occasions were a Worm had stepped into a human family and eased their loss by pretending to be that person.

Ryou could be that kind of Worm, if he was one. Which Kagami rather doubted.

"Anyway, talk to you later, big bro! See you tomorrow!" Ryou said cheerfully, and with a wave, was gone.

Kagami watched him leave, relieved that there would be no confrontation between Ryou and the paranoid Tendou that day. Now, if he could continue to evade ZECT and Tendou, he could talk to Ryou, tell him what was going on. And get him to say what was going on.

That was assuming he could evade ZECT and Tendou. If he couldn't, he hoped Ryou wouldn't mind waiting another day. On the other hand, they'd waited nearly three years to get together again, what was one more day if it meant his little brother's safety?

He thought that he'd evaded Tendou for the night, but when he arrived late at his apartment, the man was there. Kagami wondered if Tendou had followed him around the whole day, or if he was in for a holier-than-thou lecture from Kabuto's host.

Silently, with barely a look at his 'guest', Kagami led Tendou through the hallway and into his apartment. If Tendou was going to lecture him, better to do it away from prying eyes and ears.

"You didn't have to follow me around," he said. "This is my brother. He's not going to hurt me."

"You're still not facing reality," Tendou said with a sigh. An arrogant, superior sigh that made Kagami clench his fist and resist burying it in Tendou's face.

"So, you're going to protect me from my brother?" Kagami asked with incredulity. Ryou was Ryou, he could see it in the younger man's eyes.

"I'm protecting you," Tendou said, "from the Worm."

"Ryou is not a Worm! I know him, that's Ryou!"

"Weren't you the one telling me about how Worms mimic people?" Tendou said. It was reasonable, and yet... he could punch a hole through Tendou's logic. A large hole. Probably with a truck and a spaceship and the Shibuya meteorite.

"And kill the original, yes," Kagami said. "But even if he wasn't a worm, he isn't mimicking me."

There. That simple logic should make Tendou turn away, see things Kagami's way... except it wasn't. Tendou sat there as if Kagami had failed a fundamentally basic lesson. Kagami wasn't stupid. He knew what was good and what was bad, and that was Ryou and he wouldn't let Tendou convince him otherwise.

"If that's all you've got to say to me, then go home," Kagami said. "I'm not going to lead you to Ryou."

But Tendou wasn't going to budge. Kagami wondered if being host to a Zecter made people naturally overprotective and annoying, or if Tendou was just a special, ornery case.

"Fine, be that way," Kagami snapped. "You can sleep on the couch."

But Tendou didn't sleep on the couch that night. Kagami took a shower, feeling a bit cold without the warmth that had been provided. Tendou was gone once again, and if it hadn't been for the almost-argument that night, Kagami could have easily believed he'd dreamed the whole thing. Of course, his body said otherwise.

And he had to dodge Tendou. And ZECT. And pretending to do his duty for ZECT while avoiding ZECT and...

Kagami let out a deep breath. He'd get through this. He had to. Even if it meant leaving ZECT. Letting someone else handle Tendou. Actually, no matter what happened, someone else had to handle Tendou. He couldn't take Tendou in long doses, and him ending up in Kagami's bed almost two nights in a row was getting a bit odd and annoying. The last thing Kagami needed was a new host abruptly playing annoying overprotective boyfriend. Because he wasn't Kagami's boyfriend.

Did this have to do with the Zecter? Kagami stopped abruptly. The changes eventually made hosts into Worms, but there was nothing in the literature that he'd been given that said they became protective towards the first person that they saw after being chosen. Or even sexually interested. He shuddered, glad that he'd never been given recruiting duties before.

In any case, Tendou needed to get out of his life and his hair.

His breakfast was steaming in the kitchen. Tendou had no doubt made it, before he disappeared this morning. Remembering to eat it this time, Kagami continued to fume. It was so unfair, that he get his brother back and everybody thought he was a Worm!

Well, he'd show them.

He gulped down his breakfast and made sure his hair wasn't in disarray, that his clothes were in the right order, weren't inside out or anything, and hurried off towards work. If his superiors were smart, they'd take him off both finding Ryou and recruiting Tendou. Of course, father or no father, he might be looking for a new part time job soon.

He drove off on his bike to report to Tadokoro-san. He was thankful that he worked under the man for the moment; maybe he could broach the subject of finding someone else to recruit Tendou Souji.

Tadokoro-san, however, seemed busy with other things. Kagami hoped that he'd be a little more accomodating than Misaki-san had about Ryou. Well, he'd be happy with Not Being Around Tendou.

"Kagami." Tadokoro-san was paying attention to him now. "Did you find him?"

Kagami found himself nodding, despite not really wanting to do so. Confessing tha he'd seen Ryou was tantamount to admitting that he was a Worm. "But I had my hands full with Tendou at that point."

Tadokoro-san didn't mention that Kagami had eluded any ZECT people assigned to surveilance on him. Kagami had to wonder if he'd managed to evade the surveilance. A thought froze him. What if ZECT had not only put surveilance on him, but also Tendou? Since Tendou was cooperating somewhat with ZECT in this matter, it would be a simple matter to follow him, and they wouldn't have needed to follow Kagami. His earlier suspicion reared up. What if Tendou was a test to see if he could bring a host in? What if he was a ZECT member?

He was certainly being one at the moment! Kagami's anger increased as he realized what had happened. Tendou was a ZECT agent, who had done what he'd done to keep an eye on Kagami. Of course, it wasn't like he hadn't acted arrogant and mysterious the whole time - Kagami had to admit that it was better to be betrayed by an arrogant person than a friendly one - but why had he done what he'd done? Was he taking advantage of Kagami's need to 'recruit' him to do other things?

"Kagami." Tadokoro-san was talking to him. Kagami pulled out of his sulk and paid attention to his boss. Tadokoro-san was still his boss, after all, at least at the moment. He'd take the time to write a proper resignation later. He was taking something out of storage, and Kagami recognized it as one of the small, compact guns that ZECT agents tended to carry. "Take this and carry it. Just in case you're wrong."

Kagami accepted the gun gratefully. He still had to leave ZECT, but... at least Tadokoro-san seemed to respect him. Not like Misaki-san or Tendou or anybody else.

"Tadokoro-san," he said, thinking maybe if he could get his other burden away, he could actually manage to stay in ZECT while looking for a new job. "Could someone else be brought in to recruit Tendou Souji? I'm not having much luck..."

He thought about mentioning that Tendou had ended up in his bed twice in two nights, but decided against it. If Tendou was genuinely a new host, then he didn't want to ruin his reputation. And if he was a plant, and he told, Kagami was looking for a new job anyway.

"Keep trying," Tadokoro-san said simply, dismissing Kagami's request with barely a thought. Kagami slumped. So they weren't done with him yet. Either that, or maybe they didn't know. Kagami didn't know and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

Kagami nodded. Tadokoro-san might be reasonable, but Kagami knew better than to press. If Tadokoro-san believed that Kagami was capable of bringing Tendou in, then Kagami had to try his best to do so.

Tucking the gun away, Kagami set to work. He was relieved that nobody brought up Ryou for the rest of the day.

The Bistro La Salle was closed for the afternoon, at least. Takemiya-san had her own family business to attend to and had closed the restaurant early, or at least that's what she'd told Kagami in a phone call while he'd been processing some data for Tadokoro-san. While Kagami could have used the money from that shift, he was grateful for the break.

He briefly wondered if ZECT had convince Takemiya-san to close down her shop so that they could have him followed. It was probably true. If Ryou was a malicious Worm - and everybody but Kagami seemed to think so - then it was in ZECT's best interests to put him down.

And it was up to Kagami to prove them wrong. He wondered if he should let them follow him, prove to them then that Ryou was Ryou and not a monster. But they'd shoot first and ask questions later, and he couldn't risk Ryou. And Tendou would give his little brother no mercy, even if he wasn't a worm.

He biked over to the park where he and Ryou used to play baseball, varying the route a little bit to throw off anyone following him. Yeah, he might have a tail that was clever enough to stay with him, but if he didn't lose them, he'd show them that Ryou was no threat.

Either way, this had to end. He couldn't keep his little brother safe forever, eventually he'd slip up and then Ryou wouldn't be safe anymore.

Parking his motorcycle, he walked to the diamond. Ryou wasn't there, which to Kagami was a relief. He sat down on a bench, looking at the baseball diamond through the chain link fence, which had been so carefully restored since that night.

"Big brother!" Ryou's cheerful call seemed to come out of nowhere. "I've been waiting for you."

Kagami opened his mouth, as if to tell him he shouldn't have, and then reconsidered. If ZECT's agents were around, his every word was being monitored. "Ryou," he said.

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked. "Aren't you glad to see me, big brother?" he was smiling, as if to reassure Kagami that everything was okay.

"Yes, but..." Kagami tried to think of what to say.

"Let's play baseball, big brother," Ryou said. "Let's have some fun."

In his hand, he held a damaged baseball. A baseball that could have been damaged the same time the fence and Ryou's catcher's glove were.

And then, for a second, he wondered if he were wrong and this wasn't Ryou. If this was a Worm. If it was, then he'd be in trouble.

No, it was Ryou. He could feel it-

A soft hiss interrupted his thoughts and he jumped backwards as Worms came out of the woods. "You aren't Ryou!" he exclaimed. He'd been caught in a trap of his own making, blind to everything except clinging to where and what he had been.

"Of course I'm Ryou," the figure, the figure that looked like Ryou said calmly. "Ryou's memories are mine. I am him, and he is me." He looked around at the Worms that were gathering around him. "Ryou will live forever. If not in me, in one of the others." He smiled, and indicated the group. "And I want you to live forever, too. You are my big brother."

"Shut up!" Kagami exclaimed. Oh, gods. Tendou was right, Misaki-san was right, Ryou was a Worm and he'd been too blinded by his hate to realize it. He somehow got the gun out of his pocket and aimed it at the Worm mimicking Ryou. It probably wouldn't hurt the Worm, but he could run. He could get away. And then he'd apologize to Misaki-san and even Tendou for what he'd said to them. Apologize for being so blind.

"It won't hurt," 'Ryou' said, as if to calm him down. "It won't hurt... and then you'll be here with me. We can play baseball for eternity."

Kagami backed away, still pointing the miniature gun at 'Ryou'. He was screwed, unless someone came to his rescue, and he'd been so fairly careful to not let anyone know where he was going. Soon he, Kagami Arata, would cease to exist, and a Worm would mimic his form, and of course his father would be so pissed, not that Kagami would be around to see it...

"Grandmother said this," a new voice broke in. Kagami stared in disbelief as Tendou Souji walked onto the field. "When people love others, they become weaker. But this is nothing to be ashamed of, for this is not true weakness." He looked directly at Kagami. "Only those who know weakness will become stronger."

'Ryou' was looking more disconcerted, his smile lost as if he realized that killing Kagami wasn't going to be as easy as he thought. In the meantime, Tendou had grasped the Kabuto Zecter and was henshining with it, letting the armor form around him before tackling the Worms that had accompanied Ryou.

He and 'Ryou' watched the battle silently as Tendou seemed to be in almost a dance with the four Worms. In what only seemed like a few seconds, however, the four of them exploded one after another.

Then 'Ryou' blurred, shifted - and a form slammed into Tendou, tossing him several feet in the air and landing painfully. The Worm that had been Ryou had all but forgotten him, was concentrating on Tendou. Kagami had no doubt that if 'Ryou' won the battle, he was dead.

Tendou, for his part, seemed to be on the defensive, not the offensive. "Why aren't you fighting?" Kagami screamed at him, aware that this was probably not the way one handled a host one was recruiting, but he hadn't volunteered for that job anyway.

"It's up to you," Tendou said, as calmly as one could when one was having the snot beat out of one by a monster. "Your choice."

Tendou was offering the choice to *him*. To choose to let this monster with his brother's face go on, or to let Tendou defeat him. He had the nagging feeling Tendou was trying to teach him a lesson here. Either that, or giving him a mercy, not letting 'Ryou' be destroyed without Kagami's say.

'Ryou' tossed Tendou halfway across the field, and Kagami watched Tendou struggle up. In the meantime, 'Ryou' - a wrinkled, evolved worm, really - walked towards him, shimmering back into a form that was calculated to disarm him. "Do you really want to lose me, big brother? Let him destroy what remains of Ryou?"

It wasn't even really pretending to be Ryou now. It was letting its horrific appearance take a toll on Kagami, making him the weak link. He took a step back. "No!"

'Ryou' smiled once more, but Kagami turned to Tendou. "Do it!"

Sometimes, spur of the moment decisions were the only way to resolve things, and nothing more so than almost getting killed by a Worm that had just attempted to lure one to one's doom. He watched as Tendou rushed across the field, tackling the Worm and fighting a few rounds with it, one unable to beat the other. Then, a second later, they were across the field, and the monster, the Ryou-monster was falling down and exploding in a field of light green.

Kagami sunk to his knees. Suddenly, the whole thing came rushing in on him and he had no strength left.

He barely noticed when Tendou left silently. When Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san and the troops had come to clean things up. He numbly got on his bike when everything was done, and went home.

Nobody stopped him.

Best not to tell them, then. If things kept going well, nobody would ever know. Outside himself and Tendou, of course. And he could live with that.


	3. Arrows

**Chapter 3: Arrows**

Kagami thought seriously about turning in his resignation, leaving ZECT, after what had happened to Ryou. He'd wanted so much to believe that it *was* Ryou in there. Which, in a way it was; the monster had Ryou's memories, and in a sense, it was Ryou. Just not in the way it mattered.

None of this helped Kagami as he trudged from his bike to Tadokoro-san's van.  
He got in, hoping that there was something that he could do that didn't require much brainpower, for he wasn't sure that he could manage any. Misaki-san gave him a curt nod as he settled in, waiting for his newest orders.

"Headquarters," Tadokoro-san said without preamble, "wants a report on the worm mimicking Kagami Ryou."

"A witness report, or..." Kagami wasn't sure what he'd say. That he'd been an idiot, that the Worm had fooled him, a trained ZECT employee, that he'd nearly given up his life if it wasn't for Tendou riding to the rescue?

"Kagami Ryou was your assignment," Misaki-san reminded him. "Plus, weren't you supposed to be bringing in Tendou Souji?"

"Um." Kagami shuffled as much as he could in the limited space of the van. "About that..."

"Headquarters wants you to continue your duties to recruit Tendou Souji, and in the meantime, act as his liaison," Tadokoro-san said.

"Has he... requested that?" Maybe this was a step in the negotiations. Tendou would consider joining ZECT, and in return, he could have Kagami. For whatever in the hell that he wanted.

"No," Misaki-san said, answering for Tadokoro-san. "They reviewed his actions to save you, and decided that if he was going to go out of his way to see to your safety, you had enough rapport to bring him in eventually. In the meantime, someone has to deal with him. You're it."

"I think I like writing my report better," Kagami said. Rapport, hell, Tendou was out to drive him insane and make his life miserable... all while saving his life in the meantime.

That was it, he was quitting ZECT. And, if he had any say in it, as soon as humanly possible.

In the meantime, he worked on his report. The difficulty in doing that, however, came down how he explained what happened without looking completely stupid. Some stupidity, yes. But he could do without headquarters knowing exactly why he, a trained ZECT agent, had refused to recognize that his mysteriously appearing brother was a Worm mimic and not his little brother.

Writing it made him think. 'Ryou' had played upon his desire to have his little brother back, to be with his younger brother again. To be together to defend themselves from their father. 'Ryou' knew how much he resented his father. He'd played Kagami like a guitar.

He had to wonder what 'Ryou' had wanted. Had he been going after Kagami because he was a member of ZECT? That would have been seen through fairly fast by any friendly Worms undercover as humans. If there were any around. But maybe he was trying that.

Or he could have been trying a different tactic. He'd heard rumors that sometimes had their personality and motives shifted by the humans they killed and mimicked. Had this Worm been partly affected? Kagami and his little brother had been somewhat close, and he and Ryou loved each other. Plus, Ryou had always been devil's advocate, always making sure Kagami didn't blindly follow their father. Kagami somehow doubted that his younger brother, had Ryou lived, would have felt the pressure to join ZECT as he had.

Had Ryou lived.

Kagami wondered if the numbness that he felt about Ryou actually being dead would turn into something. Of course, mixed in with the sorrow was the knowledge that Tendou had to save him. From his brother, or what had seemed like his brother.

If 'Ryou' had been influenced by the original, he could have twisted that love into something else. He might not have been trying to use Kagami to be in ZECT at all. He may well have been trying to 'save' his 'older brother' in the best way he knew how, even if his methods were totally reprehensible.

Knowing Ryou, knowing their relationship with their father, Kagami had to wonder if 'Ryou' had lured him there because he wanted his brother to be safe, to be with him forever. To protect him from all the world that could hurt him. To have his brother forever, in the twisted mind of the Worm. Kagami's memories would exist forever, therefore Kagami would exist forever.

In a twisted way, it made absolute, horrifying sense. Love twisted by a Worm who saw things a Worm would. Protect Ryou's older, loving brother by killing him, but not before taking a copy of his memories that he could live forever.

Of course, given Kagami's current job, he wasn't sure that he could blame 'Ryou'. If he hadn't been killed by 'Ryou's' companions, he could have been killed some other way. It might have been a mercy.

Or it could have been a selfish desire on 'Ryou's' part. Just because one loved didn't mean that one didn't want that love solely to oneself.

Kagami shook his head. If he was to become a Worm, he wanted to become one by choice. By becoming a host to a Zecter. Not that he was keen on changing species, but if he was chosen by a Zecter, he was chosen.

Not that he had a chance in hell for that to happen, but he sometimes wished for it. He wanted to be more than the junior member of Tadokoro's unit. He wanted to be doing something useful. Something better than nearly getting killed because of his love for someone.

He wondered briefly what it was like to be a host. Did the Zecters communicate with them in ways they understood? Did they feel anything as they gradually became Worms? Or did they not notice until they lost their human form? Did they even lose their human form at all?

Kagami knew nobody that he could ask, unless it turned out that Tendou was really an experienced host. If so, he was keeping up his supposed ignorance very well. Well, sort of. With the arrogance on Tendou's part, Kagami wasn't sure if he was experienced or really a new host.

He felt well enough to go back to the van and finish his report. He wasn't sure if 'well' was the operative word there, but he had to do it and better before he left. For there was no doubt in his mind that he had a resignation letter to write and a new part-time job to look for. If his resignation bothered his father, then, well, tough.

As soon as he finished his report on his encounter with Ryou, and Tadokoro-san acknowledged it, he was handed another report to do, this time on his progress recruiting Tendou Souji into ZECT. Kagami wished there wasn't so much paperwork involved sometimes.

This one, he carefully worded. Not because he wanted to prove he was competent, but rather, to try to get someone up there to reassign Tendou's recruitment to someone else.

He finished it and thought nothing more of it after he submitted it. If they got Tendou off his back, that was okay. If they continued insisting on him trying to bring Tendou in, that was okay with him too, because he wasn't going to be there that long.

Finally, the day was over and Kagami was free of reports. Time to go work for Takemiya-san, in the infinitely simpler world of menus and dishes and customers.  
Kagami actually had time to change clothes, so he got into something more casual before heading in. He rushed in to find the Bistro La Salle full of customers, Hiyori with her hands full between taking orders and serving them, and Takemiya-san busy with the kitchen duties.

He didn't really have time to think about things until after the rush ended. Ryou, Tendou, ZECT and everything related to his other job weren't important when there were customers waiting to be served, customers waiting to order, and trying to help Takemiya-san keep on top of thins. But finally the rush thinned out and Kagami had a chance to breathe.

As he tidied up the tables and started on the dirty dishes that had been left untended because of the rush, he finally ad a chance to think. To think about Ryou, and Tendou.

Kagami reminded himself once more that he'd not be involved in that soon. He'd be looking for a job that, if boring, was at least not directly life-threatening and didn't involve baby-sitting strange, arrogant men in the hopes that they'd join up.

"Takemiya-san," he said quietly as he helped her with the dishes and Hiyori-san worked on her speciality dishes, "Could you use me full-time?"

She might not, which would just mean he'd keep looking for something to do once he left ZECT.

"I thought you had a second job," Hirori said. It could have been a question, or not.

With Hiyori, one never knew. Takemiya-san's other server and part-time cook was as mysterious as Tendou, though in sometimes less irritating ways. Tendou was irritating because everything he said was infused with his ego; Hiyori was merely strange. Kagami didn't understand Hiyori, and he was sure it showed. She was sullen, quiet, never really talking about herself. A loner. He remembered to answer her. "I do, but..."

"I'm sorry, Kagami," Takemiya-san. "But the Bistro..."

"I understand," he reassured his boss hastily. He hadn't really expected her to have a spot available, but he had to ask.

"Are you all right?" Takemiya-san said. In some ways, he was glad she was his boss too. She was like Tadokoro-san, gruff in some ways, compassionate in others. Since she was a woman, it was softer, but welcome.

"I will be," he said simply, not willing to get into his difficulties with ZECT. Takemiya-san looked at him with compassion in her eyes, seeming to understand. Which was more than could be said for Hiyori, who looked at him with a faintly annoyed expression. "I just..."

But he still couldn't say it. Hiyori turned away, apparently finding this not interesting and none of her business, for which Kagami was grateful.

Kagami found it harder to get up the courage to quit than he thought. And courage it took. He was sure that Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san could adapt to a new member of their team, and it wasn't like he'd be precisely heartbroken if he didn't have his father's approval.

He was taking an early shift on his normal day off at Takemiya-san's request. She'd be closed in the afternoon later that week, and perhaps taking mercy on him, had offered him a morning shift in lieu of that later one.

Perhaps she, too, was testing him. Seeing if he could handle a morning shift. Hiyori was doing her special dishes, Takemiya was setting things up, and so he'd been sent with a piece of chalk out to the board to write up the day's specials.  
A car stopped behind him. He didn't bother to look. Probably a customer, or someone checking the place out. Hopefully, not someone stupid enough to try to rob the place or something like that.

"Sloppy handwriting, as always," an older, male voice chided.

Kagami stopped writing and got up to face the speaker. Kagami Riku, Kagami's father, was in a business suit, as befitted a senior officer at ZECT. He'd been in the police force once, or Kagami had been told, before taking up the post. Of course, it had been long before Kagami had been born. "Father," he acknowledged. Stiff and formal, it described the relationship between the two of them, and it didn't help that Kagami still was recovering from the events with 'Ryou'.

"I came to talk to you," his father said.

"You know my cell phone number," Kagami said dully. If this man had been more caring, more thoughtful, more anything, Ryou would still be with him and wouldn't have been killed by a Worm, which would later try to kill his brother. He was pretty sure that he hadn't given his father his cell phone number, but that was the kind of thing that Kagami Riku, his father, would have bothered to find out anyway. Kagami wished he'd been better with his sons as he was with the information he gathered.

His father smiled, but it was a thin smile. "I wanted to talk to you in person. Since I saw you out here..."

Kagami inwardly bristled. "I'm listening." He was calm. Would stay calm.

"It's time for you to grow up," his father said. "Accept responsibility."

"Like you accepted responsibility for Ryou?" Kagami shot back. He knew it would be a sore point with his father, but it was his defense. His father had covered up Ryou's disappearance, gave Kagami the hope that he'd survived. All in the name of saving his reputation. But now that Kagami knew his brother was dead, his brother's Worm mimic was dead, he couldn't easily hold the accusation back.  
His father looked away, and Kagami knew he'd scored a point. "You didn't care about Ryou, you only cared about your high position with ZECT."

Another sore point. Another accusation. And his father had no answer, because the accusations were true.

"I am responsible, father. And I'm going my own way. I'm leaving ZECT."

The bold statement wasn't lost on his father as the older Kagami looked alarmed. But he didn't say anything, just let his son be. A minor victory. Even his father couldn't stop him now.

He returned to the specials, writing them out carefully, making sure they were legible. He wanted Takemiya-san to hire him for more hours, so he had to impress her. And he would, because he needed the extra money, and soon. Leaving ZECT would cut down his available money, and he didn't want that to last for long.  
Satisfied, he went inside.

Despite everything, Kagami didn't quit from ZECT at the earliest opportunity.

Tadokoro's group was suddenly busy. It was as if somebody upstairs didn't want them to have time to think, much less have Kagami turn in his resignation. He suspected it was his father's fault. Since his father couldn't change his mind, he wouldn't give Kagami the opportunity to leave. At least, Kagami suspected, until his father or somebody else could talk him into staying with ZECT. He didn't get why his father wanted him to stay, unless it was something to do with fatherly pride.

Probably fatherly pride, though Kagami wished he knew what the hell his father had in mind for him. It could have been that his father had no say on where he was placed, and only just enough influence to keep his eldest, now only, son from bruising his pride. Kagami had to wonder why it would hurt his father if he left ZECT, but he'd had enough arguments with the man to know that he was serious.

"Kagami..." Tadokoro-san had turned to him, a serious look on his face. The same look he got when Headquarters was telling him to do something staffing-wise that he didn't like. Kagami vaguely wondered if his father had a hand in what Tadokoro-san had to say.

"Yes, Tadokoro-san?" He'd put a brave face on whatever Tadokoro-san had to tell him. He hoped that they were firing him, just to save him the agony, but he bet he wouldn't be that lucky.

"You're being reassigned." That flat statement nearly made Kagami lose his composure. This was his father's solution? To take him away from Tadokoro-san? Why? Did Headquarters think Tadokoro-san was too soft? Probably, yes.

"Where, Tadokoro-san?" Kagami asked. Maybe his father had decided things were too dangerous for him and was moving him somewhere safe. Or maybe some internal politics meant that he was going to be put somewhere in some bad unit where his father couldn't do anything about it?

"Shadow." Tadokoro-san was acting as if he couldn't believe it, and Kagami understood why. Shadow was one of ZECT's most elite units. One didn't get assigned to Shadow if one was at Kagami's level, unless one was exceptionally competent. Which Kagami wasn't. Kagami was tempted to ask if Tadokoro-san was joking, but Tadokoro-san definitely wasn't.

"Shadow?" Kagami asked, repeating what Tadokoro-san had said. "Why Shadow?"

Tadokoro-san gave a small shake of his head. "I don't know. It's an order from Headquarters, though."

Kagami thought about that. Had his father thought he was bored or something, that he needed to be thrust into an elite unit? The commander and the troops of Shadow would resent him being in there. He was good, but he wasn't that good.

Tadokoro's look softened, ameliorated, as if to reassure Kagami. "I know the commander of Shadow. His name's Yaguruma Sou. He's a good man. He'll work you hard but he's also fair."

Giving a slight nod, Kagami considered the order. Shadow was completely different from Tadokoro-san's unit, and he wondered how he'd fit in and what his duties would be. He frowned, remembering what other duties he had. "What about my liason duties with Tendou Souji?"

Maybe being put in Shadow would make those duties go away. Maybe someone else would be assigned to Tendou. Or maybe the test was over, and they'd liked what they saw, so into Shadow he went.

"Headquarters didn't say anything on that," Tadokoro-san said. "So, in the meantime, keep your liason duties. I'm sure Yaguruma-san can decide how to handle the matter." He looked at the screen. "We're supposed to meet up with Shadow later anyway, so you can take your bike. I'll introduce you."

That was the end of the matter, it seemed, for Tadokoro-san had more duties for him to do. It was nearly three hours later when Tadokoro-san signaled that they were moving to meet up with Shadow, and Kagami obediently got on his bike and followed Tadokoro-san's van. They drove for a good twenty minutes before stopping where another set of troops were practicing.

Kagami got a good look at the troops. They were in standard ZECT trooper uniform, but with gold stripes on the shoulderpads. As Tadokoro-san got out, they finished their practice, and a man stepped forward, removing his helmet.

"Tadokoro-san," the man said. He had a smile on his face, as if Tadokoro-san was an old friend. Probably was. The man was a few years older than Kagami; his hair was lightened, possibly because of all the time he probably spent in the sun. Kagami was relieved to see that the man smiled. "It's good to see you again."  
"It's good to see you again," Tadokoro-san said, and he, too, was relaxed.

Kagami was betting on them being old friends. "It's been a long time."

"It has," the man agreed, and then turned to Kagami. "Is this..."

"This is Kagami Arata, who's being transferred to Shadow," Tadokoro-san said.  
The man examined Kagami, as if measuring what kind of person he was. "My name is Yaguruma Sou," he said. "Welcome to Shadow."

"Thank you," Kagami said simply, not wanting to show his confusion as to why he was there, exactly. Yaguruma-san probably had as much a clue as to why Kagami had been assigned to his unit as Kagami or Tadokoro-san did.

"I'm going to talk to Tadokoro-san for a second," Yaguruma-san said, in a tone that was even kind. "Wait here."

Kagami watched as the two of them walked off, though whether to talk about Kagami's new assignment or old times, Kagami couldn't be sure. It was a day of unsureness for him, and being handed off to Shadow didn't help matters. What he was supposed to do in the highly-active Shadow when he only had a part-time job with ZECT, he still had no clue.

A few minutes later, Tadokoro-san was saying goodbye to Yaguruma-san, leaving him alone and in his new unit. The only thing that Kagami could hope for was that Headquarters would come to their collective senses, and soon.

Yaguruma-san was appraising him again. "Tadokoro-san told me a little bit about you. You're support staff, right?"

Kagami nodded. "I assisted Tadokoro-san." Which was, and wasn't, quite true. Misaki-san was of more help than he was. He was just... there. He didn't want to be there, and it showed, though he tried his best for Tadokoro-san because he liked Tadokoro-san. Besides, he hated jobhunting. He suspected everybody did, though.

Maybe he'd stay with Shadow a little while. See what Yaguruma-san was like. Start looking for jobs while he was doing it, get to know Yaguruma-san well enough that he wasn't giving his resignation to a complete stranger.

It might have been giving in to his father's wishes, but Kagami didn't feel too bad about it. While Shadow could be a high-profile, high-risk job, Kagami knew that it could make him even more unnoticeable. After all, when one was in a high-profile unit but one was essentially a nobody, one didn't stand out. In fact, Kagami was probably going to be more unnoticeable in Shadow than he had been in Tadokoro-san's unit.

Suddenly, his transfer didn't bother him as much.

"I'm currently trying to bring in a new host, too, and I'm working as a temporary liaison until that happens," Kagami said, suddenly remembering his other responsibilities. "I hope that doesn't cause problems."

Yaguruma-san studied him. "I can see why they assigned you here," he said, almost to himself. "Come on, I'll show you what your duties are."

Kagami had no clue by the time he had to leave an hour later. He'd gotten a talk from Yaguruma-san about joining ZECT full-time, since it was important for him to do so as a member of Shadow. He hoped that he could get Yaguruma-san to understand that when he said he was part-time, he meant that he was part-time. He wasn't keen on explaining why he couldn't commit to working for ZECT full-time, but he would if he had to. And if Yaguruma-san wanted to kick him out after that, well, he'd still live.

As he drove off to hit his apartment and then the Bistro, Kagami thought he understood why Yaguruma-san felt the way he did. Yaguruma-san had given him the bare outline of his own personal philosophy, a philosophy that he also extended to his subordinates. At least Yaguruma-san cared for his subordinates; Kagami wondered if that was why he'd been transfered in to Shadow. Maybe his father had wanted him to be in a unit that would make him so welcome, that he wouldn't want to leave. Or at least would feel bad about leaving.

In any case, it would make his intent to leave ZECT a heck of a whole lot harder.

Kagami hurried into the Bistro La Salle, a few minutes late due to unexpected traffic. "I'm here," he called as the door swung shut behind him. As usual at that time of day, there were few customers - in fact, one. The smell of one of Hiyori's best dishes reached his nose and he grabbed a quick look at the customer.

It was Tendou, of course. Kagami wondered if the man had discovered the restaurant after coming in contact with Kagami, or if he was a regular that came in morning shift, when Kagami was hardly ever there. In any case, he was certainly favoring later hours... Long enough to see Kagami in. Probably to talk with him away from ZECT.

Kagami had hoped that going away from Tadokoro-san's unit meant that he wouldn't see Tendou again, but it seemed like he was wrong. The man looked at him with an unreadable expression, and Kagami found himself slinking into the kitchen, wondering what had gotten into himself. Tendou hadn't yelled or anything. Just looked at him. Maybe that "ruler of all" thing had subconsciously sunk in.

In any case, he was in his apron and out on the floor, studiously avoiding Tendou as he helped clean up for the afternoon rush. That he could do with little brainpower, saving his brain for not looking in Tendou's direction. If he felt like it, he'd talk to Tendou later; in the meantime, he had a job to do, and he didn't want to get sacked on this one and be really forced to work full-time, no matter how much it would delight Yaguruma-san.

And what could he say to Tendou, anyway? That he'd been reassigned, so he wasn't dealing with him anymore? That wasn't true. Yaguruma-san had said nothing about terminating the assignment with Tendou. If Tendou was a test of his abilities, they should have known that Kagami was ultimately failing at that, and needed to just be put somewhere. Or kept in Tadokoro-san's unit. Why wasn't he, anyway? He couldn't bring Tendou in, so he was being put in Shadow? It made no sense.

Unless it was a move to force him to join ZECT full-time, something he wouldn't put past his father. Resigning from ZECT would ease the pressure, though not entirely; his father would be on his back to join up again.

He wished Tendou would finish his meal and get the heck out of there. He could use a break from reminders of what he wanted to put behind him. And he still could do without reminders of what had happened with Ryou.

"Kagami." Tendou said his name without even looking up. It was unnerving. Kagami inwardly swore, vowing never to go near another host again if his life depended on it. "I need more tea."

"Right." Kagami hurried to refill the teacup without breaking it. If Tendou was willing to ignore their relationship, then so was he.

Seeing him at the Bistro must have reminded Tendou that Kagami existed, for the man was waiting when Kagami trekked back to his house. Kagami randomly wondered how Tendou's younger sister was faring, with her brother at a strange man's place every other night, or so it seemed. Maybe Tendou left their house after she went to bed and came back before she got up. And in between, drove Kagami nuts.

He wondered if he should tell Yaguruma-san about the twist, but decided against it, not wanting to be harrassed. Who knew what the members of Shadow, and Yaguruma-san would say? If it had been Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san, then perhaps they would listen, but he hadn't been with Shadow long enough to figure it out.

Kagami let Tendou in. He wondered if the man wanted a bedpartner or wanted to discuss ZECT away from the Bistro; with Tendou it could go either way. Or both ways. It wouldn't be the first night that started with a ZECT discussion and ended in the bedroom.

"I got transfered to another unit," he said conversationally. "Right now, I'm your liaison, but that'll probably change." Okay, might change, could change, but he wanted to get Tendou used to the idea. Not that he thought Tendou would be heartbroken about it. Maybe he'd fight to keep Kagami as his liason, because he had a hold on him, but who knew, he might not. He might find someone more willing. And maybe more useful to him than a low-level flunky.

Of course, if Tendou was just being brought into ZECT, they might let him choose a liaison. Or they might force him to join ZECT to keep Kagami as a liaison. Either way, it might be a permanent thing. Kagami had no clue what a full liaison did, though he suspected that not all of them, or even most of them, slept with the hosts that they were being liaisons for.

Tendou didn't say anything about that, just gazed at Kagami. Kagami, in turn, sat there, hoping against hope that Tendou said something, or went away, or whatever.

After a few moments, Kagami added, "But if I do, I'm sure ZECT will put you with somebody else, don't worry."

"I don't work for ZECT," Tendou said suddenly.

"I know that," Kagami said, feeling frustrated. "But the Zecters technically belong to ZECT. Since one chose you-"

"I belong to ZECT now?" The tone was dangerous, and Kagami suddenly wished someone else was having this conversation with Tendou. Anybody. Just not him.

"Well," Kagami said uncomfortably, "Not really, but as long as a Zecter chooses you, they want you to work for them. Usually, they try to persuade you to come in. Sometimes, I'm told, they use… harder measures." He didn't want to go into what they'd do if Tendou refused to come in. Right now, they seemed to be willing to let him work independently, because he was fighting the Worm, but eventually, they'd lose their patience. Kagami thought of Tendou Souji's little sister and winced. Hopefully ZECT would try to tempt Tendou before getting to that point.

Even with Tendou, there had to be something they could offer him.  
"I see. It's that kind of organization," Tendou said with some scorn. "Either I come in willingly, or..."

"Yeah," Kagami said uncomfortably. "Please come in! I'm sure you can arrange things so that you don't do what you don't want to do." After all, he was doing what he was supposed to do; it couldn't be that hard to bring him in, would it? "You can work with who you want to work with."

"And if I want to work with the head of ZECT?" Tendou asked.

Kagami shook his head. "I don't know. I'm a flunky."

That seemed to amuse Tendou, and all the tension over ZECT's recruiting practices seemed to melt away from the conversation. The evening was pleasant, if not a bit busy, and as usual, Tendou was gone before Kagami woke up.

Kagami took a shower. He remembered vaguely telling Tendou where he was going in the morning, but he wasn't too worried. Tendou didn't have much to do with ZECT. Tendou didn't want to have much to do with ZECT, and Kagami's revelations the night before probably didn't help. Of course, Kagami realized, he might show up in order to join ZECT, that was a possibility. Then he could have a liaison of his choice instead of Kagami. In that case, his appearance would be welcome.

Getting into his suit, he biked towards where Shadow trained. He wasn't sure Yaguruma or Yaguruma's support staff were waiting with baited breaths for his arrival, but it was a job and he'd get there. It would be nice to know what in the hell he was supposed to be doing. Yesterday had been introducing the troops and getting an idea of his background; he hoped Yaguruma had figured out what in the heck he could do for them. Other than drag them down.

He'd heard the term "Perfect Harmony" once or twice; it seemed to be a team ideal. All working together, all looking out for one another. Was that what made Shadow an elite team? That they all watched out for each other, were part of each other? Was that it?

If so, that explained why he was shoved into Shadow; if he clicked with the team, he'd find it hard to leave. But maybe he wouldn't.

Kagami reported to duty with Shadow. Kageyama-san, one of Yaguruma-san's subordinates, handed him a pile of clothing and told him to change; Yaguruma was nowhere in sight. By the time he came back in his Shadow outfit - a jumpsuit with yellow shoulderpads - and gotten assigned his gear, Yaguruma-san had appeared and they were moving out. Either an on-site training exercise or a Worm invasion, he wasn't sure, but he jumped onto his cycle and followed the trooper vehicles and Yaguruma-san's motorcycle.

Yaguruma-san parked his bike and jumped off of it, and troopers started spilling out of the carriers. As Kagami hurried forward, cam in hand, the troopers started engaging some unmolted Worms that were protecting a molted one. Kagami had no clue what insect it was emulating, but it was large and ugly, like most molted Worms. Heck, like most unmolted Worms. Yaguruma-san was reaching up to the sky for some reason, and Kagami blinked as a small object flew down from the sky and landed in Yaguruma's hand, and he subsequently fastened to his wrist.  
As Yaguruma-san's armor formed around him, Kagami could only stare. Yaguruma-san was a host? And he was in ZECT! Was that why he was handed to Shadow, so he knew how a host was supposed to behave?

The troopers continued to tackle the Worms as Yaguruma barreled between them, heading for the main one. Kagami could only watch as Yaguruma-san did his job, effortlessly using his form to battle the Worm. Kagami abruptly remembered that he was holding his cam and brought it up to his eyes, sending the data off to who-knew-where. He was careful to stay out of the battle, even though he had his gun. Maybe, since he was now in Shadow, Yaguruma would give him a trooper gun. It was so much more reassuring to have a decent way of defending himself. The little gun was nice, but was of last resort.

As Yaguruma and Shadow fought the Worms, another figure drove up on the motorcycle. Kagami groaned as he realized who it was. "Tendou," he groaned, as Tendou took off his helmet and called for his own Zecter, which obligingly came. As the armor formed around him, he charged into battle, leaving Kagami stuck watching the progress of Yaguruma, the ZECT troopers, and also Tendou. Tendou mostly because until someone took him off of Kagami's hands, he was Kagami's responsibility.

The battle took a few more minutes, though it seemed like Yaguruma-san and Tendou were in their own personal contest to see who could kill off the the molted Worm. Kagami wasn't sure which one of them finished it off, Tendou or Yaguruma; he figured whoever it was deserved the win.

As the smoke cleared, two Zecters flew up into the sky. Several troopers were wounded; Kagami could hear Kageyama-san directing the wounded towards aid and checking into the downed ones while Yaguruma-san and Tendou stared at each other. Yaguruma-san seemed as astonished as Kagami had been when he'd encountered Tendou, and Kagami had to wonder if Tendou had that effect on everyone.

"...are you?" Yaguruma was asking.

Kagami rolled his eyes as Tendou went into his spiel. "Tendou Souji. Walking the path of heaven, the one who will rule over all."

Hurrying up, Kagami tried to step between the two. "Tendou." If he got him off the field, then he could talk to Tendou without a problem.

"So, he's who you're liaisoning with?" Yaguruma-san asked. It wasn't said with his standard good humor.

"Yes," Kagami said. "May I talk to Tendou for a moment?" He tried to move Tendou away, try to convince him that walking into random fights that were practically finished wasn't the way to impress ZECT.

But Tendou wasn't moving, and Yaguruma hadn't said anything. They were just staring at each other, leaving Kagami once more to wonder why he got into situations that inevitably ended in annoyed people. Annoyed with him, even.

"Tendou?" Kagami prompted, but Tendou was acting as if Kagami hadn't spoken. He wondered if it was the nature of hosts to be competitive and not get along with each other. If so, that might explain why he'd not seen any. They'd be spread out where they couldn't damage one another.

Tendou left without a word. Kagami sagged in relief. No fights between hosts for today. But this was going to make his life with Shadow difficult, if Tendou kept showing up where he wasn't wanted. "Sorry about him," Kagami said, apologizing to Yaguruma-san. This really wasn't how he wanted to spend his second day with his new group, apologizing after Tendou. But Tendou was giving him no choice.

Yaguruma-san was still looking at where Tendou had gone, as if not quite willing to let him disappear. "Yaguruma-san?"

The older man shook off the trance he was in. "How are you doing in bringing him in?"

Kagami shook his head. "I'm not getting very far. He doesn't trust ZECT, and I suspect he only tolerates me." He still said nothing about Tendou's night time visits. They were none of ZECT's business and he still didn't want to get a reputation. Well, other than somebody who couldn't bring a host into ZECT. But then again, Tendou Souji was an exceedingly difficult host to handle, and he guessed that ZECT knew that.

Which brought him back to why they were insisting he try to bring Tendou in, and why he'd been reassigned to Shadow. Were they hoping that Yaguruma-san could bring Tendou in, or be a mentor to Tendou? That Kagami's presence would make Tendou get used to Yaguruma-san, and things would go from there? It was the only thing that made sense.

"I see," Yaguruma-san said simply. He was staring after Tendou, where Tendou had been, once again, and Kagami wished he knew what was going on inside the man's head. And then he pulled himself together. "Let's go."

It was the best thing Kagami had heard all morning, and he followed eagerly after Yaguruma-san, eager to have the events of the day over and done with. Maybe he'd survive the ordeal, or at least have some idea what was happening, and that made life easier for him. Yaguruma-san would know what to do, and he'd help Kagami deal with Tendou, and all would be right with the world.

But, as the day went on, Kagami was stuck writing reports and learning the way Shadow did things. If Yaguruma had any advice on how to deal with Tendou, he wasn't sharing it with Kagami. He seemed pensive every time Kagami looked his way.

After Kagami turned in his report of the incident, he found himself sitting with Kageyama Shun, one of the ZECT troopers in Shadow.

"So, the person that you're assigned to bring in was the one that showed up?" Kageyama-san asked Kagami, looking off in the vague general direction that they'd gone earlier.

"Yes," Kagami said. "Tendou Souji. His Zecter chose him a few days ago. I was the nearest to him when he was chosen, so I got the assignment."

"He was very rude to Yaguruma-san," Kageyama said conversationally. "Do you think you can get him to shape up?"

"Tendou?" Kagami tried not to laugh hysterically in Kageyama's face. Him, get Tendou to shape up, to behave? Tendou would likely walk all over him! He still wished that headquarters would assign someone else to Tendou and get him away from the egotistical man. "I'm hoping to get him in and get someone else to make him behave."

Kageyama gave a small nod. "That man would never fit into our Perfect Harmony."  
If that wasn't stating the obvious, Kagami didn't know what did. Tendou was an individual. While he said out loud that he didn't join ZECT because he didn't trust the organization, Kagami had to wonder if what was going on was that he just couldn't stand being in something where he wasn't alone or in charge. Which meant that he'd never join the organization unless he had a lot of power or no choice, and Kagami wasn't sure he wanted to be there when Tendou figured out that he had no choice in the matter of something. He had a feeling that it would be rather... unpleasant.

"I don't think he's meant for Shadow," Kagami reassured Kageyama. "I'm sure, once he's brought in, he'll be assigned to another unit. Maybe I will, too. If he wants to keep me as his liaison."

Kageyama nodded once more. "Yaguruma-san's very patient. I'm sure he can help you with that. Bringing the new host in."

That's what Kagami was hoping for, too, but he didn't say it out loud. If Yaguruma-san could help out, that would make Kagami's job so much easier. But it seemed like Yaguruma-san was still figuring out what to do with Tendou, same as Kagami was.

In the meantime, at least the days went by fast. Kagami stayed with Shadow and tried to be useful while also trying to figure Tendou out. He was sure that he liked Yaguruma-san, who was everything that Tendou was not. Yaguruma-san bothered to care about people and was genuinely interested in what his troopers said. He implemented suggestions and helped people out. Kagami had no idea who his liason was, or if he even needed one, being involved with Shadow and all.

He'd quizzed some of the members of Shadow, and managed to get a little bit out of Yaguruma-san himself. Unfortunately, Yaguruma-san had been in ZECT when the TheBee Zecter - Yaguruma-san's Zecter - had chosen him. Apparently ZECT tested for compatible candidates within the organization first before releasing Zecters to the outside world, unless the Zecters themselves decided they didn't want potential hosts brought to them and left to hunt them on their own.

Like Kabuto Zecter did, much to Kagami's frustration. He wouldn't be in the situation he was in if the Zecter had accepted a ZECT host! Instead, he was stuck dealing with Tendou. And nobody seemed to care at all that he wasn't able to handle Tendou. They just seemed to think he'd manage things eventually. Headquarters seemed adamant that Kagami stay with Tendou, even.

Who knew why headquarters thought things, though in this case Kagami wished he knew.

Tendou had even shown up during one of Shadow's battles, once again battling a molted Worm. In this case, he got it before Yaguruma-san did, much to Yaguruma-san's frustration. Thankfully, Yaguruma-san hadn't taken it out on Kagami, though they had talked a while. Kagami was glad that Yaguruma-san was there, even though his experience was so unlike Tendou's that Kagami couldn't find anything useful in Yaguruma's memories to help him deal with Tendou.  
However, the other members of Shadow were much less forgiving. Kagami's inability to control Tendou - never mind that he was supposed to be bringing Tendou in, not controlling him - was interfering with the unit's operations and Kagami had to wonder once again why he had to be in Shadow and Tendou's ZECT liaison at the same time. One or the other he could handle - but not both.

So when Tendou showed up at another Shadow battle and annoyed Yaguruma-san by defeating the monster before him, Kagami decided he needed to do something about it. After all, he really wanted to join Shadow fully, be part of Yaguruma's Perfect Harmony, but he couldn't. Not while Tendou stood in the way, interfering with Shadow operations.

"Tendou." He hoped the flat tone would get through to Tendou and make him actually look at him, instead of blithely proclaiming victory and riding off, making Kagami's reputation with Shadow into more tatters than it already was. "You've got to stop doing this."

"Stop what? Fighting the Worm?" Tendou asked, a note of scorn in his voice that Kagami would even suggest such a thing.

"Yaguruma-san is capable of fighting the Worm," Kagami said. "There are plenty of Worms out there to fight, can't you let Shadow alone?"

"If I find a Worm, I will destroy it," Tendou said so calmly that Kagami found himself growing angrier at the new host than he ever thought possible. Fighting Worms was a group effort, why didn't Tendou understand that? He couldn't do it alone, without support. And maybe that's why ZECT had transferred him to Shadow, to understand that important truth so he could make Tendou understand. If it was humanly possible to make Tendou see reason.

"Yes, but... Shadow's doing good things, and you're destroying our harmony..."

"Our harmony?" Tendou asked, and Kagami tried not to wince at Tendou's tone. He wondered if he'd be receiving a visit that night from Tendou, and then wondered why the hell Tendou would care anyway. It wasn't like Yaguruma-san was trying to take Kagami away from him, after all. Kagami was a member of ZECT, at least for the moment. He was more or less loyal, though not as blindly as his father probably hoped.

"I'm a member of Shadow, and of ZECT. You should have known that by now." He felt fairly safe in rebuking Tendou; the man would shrug it off as if Kagami had never said anything.

And indeed, Tendou did. "I will continue fighting the worm, no matter where it might be."

"Yaguruma-san is better than you are," Kagami said suddenly. "He cares about people. He listens to people. He's what a host should be. And you? Why should I even bother bringing you in?"

Even as he realized he'd spoken that last part out loud, Tendou answered. "I will not join ZECT until I know its motives. Or if I can control my own actions."

Kagami could have laughed. He wanted autonomy? ZECT could arrange that, but Kagami bet that Tendou wouldn't have believe that even if Kagami had offered that to him. Kagami made a mental note to make a report on that, maybe for the next person who tried bringing Tendou Souji in. On his end, from now on, he was going to ignore Tendou as much as possible and hope the other man would do the same.

That in mind, he turned away, looked at the water. It was soothing, calm. Not dangerous, though Kagami knew it was.

By the time he turned back, Tendou was gone and Shadow was getting its stuff together. Yaguruma-san seemed to have disappeared, too, and Kagami looked around. As he helped a trooper, he heard an argument. Making sure the trooper was okay, he headed in the argument's direction to see what was going on.

The two arguers were rather familiar, even at the distance Kagami was at. One was Tendou, one was Yaguruma-san. The older man was losing his patience at Tendou, who wore his usual arrogant, smug look. Kagami had rarely seen Yaguruma-san that angry; the responses Tendou were giving him must have been more annoying than the ones he'd been giving to Kagami. As if sensing him, the two broke off their argument and Tendou left. "Yaguruma-san?" Kagami asked. "Are you all right?"

Yaguruma-san looked up, as if he didn't realize Kagami was there. Probably had been so caught up in the argument with Tendou that he hadn't realized anybody had been listening in. "I'm fine," Yaguruma-san said, but he looked preoccupied. Whatever Tendou had said had disconcerted him as well as annoyed him, and obviously he was thinking about something. Hopefully something that would make life easier for Kagami.

"I wish I knew what to do with him," Kagami said. "Tendou doesn't seem to want to join ZECT. I could tell him he'd have some autonomy and he wouldn't believe it."

"He's the kind of host that ZECT has a hard time handling," Yaguruma said, agreeing. "I know you probably like him... but I think that the Kabuto Zecter needs to go to a new host. One that listens."

Kagami paused at that. ZECT wouldn't do that... Would they? From what tidbits he was picking up as a recruiter, the Worms thought that the Zecters' choices were inviolate and nobody should be allowed to interfere. He didn't know what would happen if ZECT, or someone with ZECT, tried to force a Zecter to choose someone else. Would the Native Worms retaliate? Try to restore the Zecter to Tendou, because he had been chosen by the Zecter?

It was then that Kagami realized that he had no idea how the Native Worms increased their numbers. He knew that the Alien Worms reproduced in egg sacs, so he assumed that the Native Worms, being similar, did so as well. But what if they wanted the humans that were hosts to change? To become Native Worms, to transition between the species?

And what if they decided, if ZECT forced the Kabuto Zecter away from Tendou, that they needed to protect the human hosts by accelerating the change that had started in their bodies? Kagami shivered at that, and was suddenly happy that he was a plain old ZECT member and not a host like Yaguruma-san and Tendou.

"He has to want something," Kagami said. "Something that we can give him. Something that will make him come in. If somewhat."

But Yaguruma-san was in his own little world, not listening for once. So preoccupied was he that Kagami was suddenly glad that Shadow worked so well with a unit. Between Kageyama-san, who was Yaguruma-san's second in command, and the rest of the troops, they were able to finally roll out, some troopers to be sent to the hospital while the rest of them resumed training and paperwork, and all the fun parts of being in ZECT.

Not surprisingly, Tendou showed up at his door that night. Later than usual, so Kagami guessed that maybe Tendou's little sister had some project or something, or Tendou had something that had delayed him. Kagami was hoping that Tendou wouldn't show up at all, but Tendou showed up when Tendou wanted to show up, and that was that.

Kagami sullenly let him in, letting him relax inside. And yet it wasn't true relaxation, because even Tendou seemed tense, though in a way that Kagami couldn't quite define. He closed the door. "I meant what I said this morning. Stop interfering with Shadow. Stop confronting Yaguruma-san. Please, Tendou?" He was being politer than polite, trying to be both scolding and humble. He had no clue how he was supposed to go about this, but if it made things go one way or another, he was all for it.

"I will go where I need to go," Tendou countered.

"Look, there are plenty of Worms to fight - you can go where you want, just... leave the worms that Shadow are fighting to Shadow." Kagami was aware that he was pleading, but if it calmed some of the tension between Yaguruma-san and Tendou, between the rest of Shadow and Kagami, he was all for it.

"And not disrupt your 'Perfect Harmony'?" Tendou asked abruptly. "I don't work that way."

"Okay," Kagami said, exasperatedly. "Why don't you allow us mere mortals to win a fight sometimes without you, so we don't feel totally useless?" That would appeal to Tendou's ego and still get the point across. He hoped.

He hoped.

Tendou had no response to that, but it was mostly because he was ignoring the conversation, not like he was conceding it. Just like Tendou. Kagami wished he knew what was going on in that messy-haired brain of his.

Conversation turned to wordless things, though, shortly thereafter.

It was definitely getting to be a pattern, Kagami thought, if they weren't already there. Since he'd met Tendou, more nights than not the man would turn up on his doorstep, he'd try to convince Tendou to join ZECT, and then they'd… get busy, was the nice, nondescriptive way to put it. Sometimes, Kagami swore, Tendou would show up at battles just to see more of Kagami. Though that made no sense, since he saw Kagami half the time at the Bistro La Salle, anyway.

Which didn't help Kagami's concentration at the Bistro, either. He was surprised Takemiya-san hadn't tossed him out yet, made him leave and not come back. Whenever Tendou was around, he forgot half his orders and had to stand around looking confused until he remembered them. It was getting embarrassing to do that in front of Takemiya-san, Hiyori, and the customers. At least when Tendou wasn't around, he only forgot about one order out of ten, and he suspected it all had to do with ZECT.

He had a bad feeling that maybe Yaguruma-san was right. Maybe he should leave his job at the Bistro and join ZECT full-time. It wasn't what he wanted, but he could be in a worse situation. He liked Yaguruma-san, though he missed being in Tadokoro-san's unit, and if it weren't for Tendou, his professional life would be going great.

Of course, it all came down to Tendou. If Tendou wasn't in his life, he'd be happily - well, maybe not so happily - working in ZECT, dreaming of maybe becoming something better, working with people he liked. He still suspected that his affiliation with Shadow was because of Tendou, so that he could guide the other man into being what ZECT wanted him to be.

That was so not going well. And somewhere upstairs they had to realize that.  
"That's it, something has to give," he said to his reflection. What, he wasn't sure, but something had to give.

He hurried up to get to Shadow's base of operations. Maybe, for once there would be nothing but training and it would be a quiet day. Of course, that was hoping too much for the day.

And, indeed, when he arrived at Shadow's base, all seemed quiet. Yaguruma-san wasn't there, Kageyama-san was running through exercises with the troops. Not much for Kagami to do. He wished, for the moment, that he was back in Tadokoro-san's unit. Yes, they did their share of training with the troops, but they were more active than Shadow was, since they were an investigatory unit and Shadow was an elite unit. Shadow saw even more battles than Tadokoro-san's unit did.

Soon, they were called into battle, Yaguruma-san charging against a particularly malevolent-looking molted Worm that was cheerfully spitting acid at the troopers, and any civilians stupid enough to stray within reach. Not that there were many, and most of the few that were left were trying to get out of there as soon as possible.

He saw a second Worm come out of hiding, behind the troopers. Keeping in mind Yaguruma-san's discussion the last time he got in the line of fire, he yelled a warning. But the Worm disappeared as suddenly as it appeared, making him look foolish. If he hadn't seen Yaguruma fighting the first Worm the first time, he'd have doubted his eyes, but there was a danger. Even if he was the only one who could see it.

Pinching his nose in frustration, he hoped it would show up again. Not because he wanted it to show up again, particularly, but because it had to be destroyed.  
Or maybe Tendou would go find it and leave Shadow alone and make Kagami's life a heck of a whole lot easier.

As Yaguruma-san finished off the first Worm, he saw the second again. He'd have to tell Yaguruma-san about it. But as he was going to do so, the Worm abruptly flew through the air, followed by Tendou in cast-off form. Kagami wasn't the only one who noticed the appearance of the second worm; the troopers and Yaguruma-san noticed it too.

The Worm recovered, running through the troopers as if to get away from Tendou, and tossing a few troopers about as it did. In fact, it surrounded itself with troopers, as if figuring that Tendou would be unwilling to attack where lives might be at stake. Kagami doubted the tactic would work.

And it didn't.

Tendou charged in, as if uncaring that the ZECT troops were about. Kagami made a face at this, but was helpless to do anything except watch. He kept an eye on the fight, watching as Tendou and the Worm fought it out, ignoring Yaguruma-san and the rest of Shadow. Then he saw the familiar green of another set of Worms; they were creeping up at the troopers, who were busy watching Tendou, as if trying to figure out the best way to give him some support.

In the meantime, the Worm and Tendou were still going at it, and then they disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds later, the result being that the Worm blew up in a bright explosion of green. And suddenly, as if Yaguruma-san had taken leave of his senses, he strolled forward. Kagami yelled a warning seconds before the Worms attacked the troopers, and they refocused their efforts on the new intruders.

Yaguruma-san must have figured that the Shadow troopers could handle the Worms as he handled Tendou, for he didn't turn around during the fight. He growed something at Tendou, too soft for Kagami to hear, and then let loose on the surprised Tendou. Tendou quickly recovered, however, and joined the fight, defending himself against Yaguruma-san.

In the meantime, the Worms must have been tougher than usual, or Shadow more in disarray than usual, because the Worms - unmolted ones, at that - were doing a fine job of scattering the troopers as if they were feathers and not men. As a trooper landed nearby, too wounded to stand up, Kagami let regulations be damned and scooped up the trooper's bladegun. He'd keep the troopers safe and maybe they'd think more of him. At least he wasn't losing anybody to the host version of ego fights.

As if he realized that something was going wrong behind him, Yaguruma-san activated his armor's big finisher - Rider Sting - and punched Tendou with it. Or meant to. The armor disappeared just as he was going to do so, leaving him safe but unarmed, unless he had a gun on him that Kagami didn't know about. A small, winged object - TheBee Zecter - flew off from Yaguruma, rising up in the air as if to survey the battle. Kagami thought it was a hell of a time for the Zecter to suddenly decide that it needed a new host.

Not that he had much time to think of it, because he was defending three wounded troopers at that point. He wanted them safe, he wanted them strong, and if the Worms stopped coming, they might have a chance. Kagami could only assume the first Worm and first wave of unmolted Worms were there to draw the humans, and the second group would finish them off. It wouldn't be the first time that tactic had been used.

The Zecter dove down in his direction, and Kagami hoped it was coming in to join the fight, because it was not the best time for a Zecter to go host-hunting. Not in the middle of battle.

As the Zecter swirled down, it circled above Kagami's head. He reached up, as if to swat it away, the natural instinct for someone confronted by a very large, if mechanical, insect. He ended up grasping it instead, blinking unbelievingly as he lowered his arm and opened his fist. The TheBee Zecter was sitting in his hand, and he had no clue what to do with it.

"Kagami!" Yaguruma-san was yelling at him, and then an object flew through the air, and Kagami dropped his bladegun. Kagami caught it as the undowned troopers covered his sudden lack of fire with their own. He looked at the second object, noting it as Yaguruma-san's henshin brace, and stared at Yaguruma-san.

Yaguruma-san had his hand on his wrist, as if to convey a message: put it on.

Kagami pushed the henshin brace onto his wrist, and trembling, pushed the TheBee Zecter into it, rotating it into place. As if in a trance, he uttered the word "Henshin."

The world exploded in yellow light.


	4. Bee

**Chapter 4: Bee**

Nothing could have prepared Kagami for that moment. Inside his head, he felt a mental connection with something that had no words, only imperatives. Fight the Alien Worms. Protect everybody.

TheBee Zecter. It was letting him know what it wanted, and Kagami didn't argue. He charged forward, cutting through the Worms as if they were fragile beings.  
As the horde of worms exploded around him, he looked at Yaguruma-san and Tendou. At the troops. Everybody was safe.

He let his henshin, his transformation, go. The world returned to normal as TheBee Zecter flew off, with an unspoken promise that it would be back.

But he was only temporary. He knew that. Kagami unfastened the henshin brace from his wrist, noting absently that Tendou was leaving, and strode up to Yaguruma-san.

The man only shook his head. "It's yours now."

"Mine?" Kagami echoed.

"It's yours," Yaguruma-san said quietly. "Congratulations."

Kagami could only stare for a moment. "Mine?" he echoed again. It was his? He was a host?

But, as he looked at the henshin brace on his wrist, he knew he had to accept it. Being Tendou's liaison and recruiter had given him much more access to host-related information than he had before. When a Zecter chose, it didn't choose for one time. If it chose a human host, that human host remained chosen until it chose someone else.

Which meant that Kagami had a whole bigger headache. Not only was he a host, but in Shadow and Tendou's recruiter/liaison. He was being pulled full-time, kicking and screaming into ZECT.

At that moment, he wished that the preceeding few moments had not happened, and that he was not suddenly where he'd half-hoped he'd be.

"Yaguruma-san?" Kagami asked. "What happens now?"

He would, at that moment, freely admitted he had no clue, had it not been totally obvious to anybody with eyes in their heads. He was sure he was looking as lost as he felt.

The older man put a hand on his shoulder. "We take care of the casualties, go back to base, and write reports."

"Me especially?" Kagami asked.

Yaguruma-san gave a small nod. "You, especially."

"And about Tendou?" Kagami asked. "I'm not sure I can be a host, be a liason, and work part time as well."

"You're going to have to go full-time," Yaguruma-san said. "You're a host. Your duty is to ZECT now."

It was funny. Had anybody but Yaguruma-san or Tadokoro-san said those words, Kagami would have refused them. Tried to choose not to be a host.

But not with Yaguruma-san and Shadow needing him. Not that a human host really had a chance to reject a Zecter, according to ZECT literature. The best a reluctant host could do was try to ignore their Zecter and hope it chose someone else. ZECT tried to bring in new hosts before they had a chance to reject the Zecter's choice, but it didn't always happen.

And he doubted ZECT agents chosen by Zecters didn't have a choice. Even if he was inclined to abandon Yaguruma-san, abandon Shadow, ZECT wouldn't have let him. Headquarters wasn't inclined to let its host-agents go rogue. He'd have been brought back in post-haste, one way or another. At least that's what he'd figured out between the literature and Yaguruma-san. He especially doubted that the son of the great and powerful Kagami Riku would have been allowed to leave once he got chosen as a host.

And that was what it boiled down to. He was now TheBee's host, with all the duties that were expected as a host, and no idea what those duties exactly were. He'd have thought that the literature that he'd been given when he became Tendou's recruiter/liaison would have included that simple fact, but he guessed that they'd left out that simple detail because he wouldn't be in charge of Tendou or even Tendou's assistant after he brought the man in.

Kagami had seen Tendou in action a few times, had seen Yaguruma-san in action a few times. The problem was, Tendou wasn't in ZECT and tended to show up randomly when he felt he was needed, and Yaguruma-san was the leader of Shadow and had more responsibilities than just fighting molted Worms. There had to be something in between these two extremes, ZECT agents who weren't heads of squads who hunted Worms. Yaguruma-san was a brilliant tactician, a caring one, who could direct his staff almost without looking. Kagami doubted he'd be called upon to lead Shadow; he'd just be their resident host, while Yaguruma-san called the shots.

"Yaguruma-san," Kagami said. "What about Tendou? I can't be a host and be a liason with one."

The mention of Tendou's name made a frown manifest on Yaguruma-san's face. Obviously, the pain of Yaguruma-san's defeat, along with the pain of losing his Zecter, made Yaguruma-san feel less than charitable towards Tendou. Kagami had a feeling that the only good thing that would come out of this was that Tendou would be out of his hair and Yaguruma-san's. Or so he hoped.

He'd talk about it with Tendou - or would try to, at least, the next time Tendou decided to visit. He hoped it was soon; there was a lot they had to discuss, and hopefully Tendou would actually listen to him now that they were both Zecter hosts. But then again, Tendou didn't seem inclined to listen to Yaguruma-san either. Maybe he would with Kagami, because he slept with Kagami.

"I'll take care of that," Yaguruma-san said tightly. "In the meantime, why don't you take the rest of the day off? You do have a job to leave, after all. I'll take you back to base."

Kagami still wasn't sure if he really wanted to leave his job at the Bistro La Salle, but did he have a choice? He was not just the Random Junior Member of Tadokoro-san's squad and then Shadow anymore, he was TheBee's host, with unknown benefits and responsibilities. He hoped that Takemiya-san would be up to giving him his job back eventually, when the whole Shadow and host thing was over, if the host thing was ever over.

Although turning into a Worm would seem to be the end of the host arrangement.

"Right," Kagami said, still feeling a little dazed. He walked off in the general direction of Yaguruma-san's bike, or at least he hoped in the general direction of Yaguruma-san's bike. He wasn't sure at the moment if he could trust his sense of direction or anything else, given what had happened in only a short while. At least he wasn't commander of Shadow, he was just Kagami, still trying to figure things out, and now trying to figure things out as one of ZECT's Zecter hosts.

Yaguruma-san took him back to Shadow's main meeting place, and he took his motorcycle home. For once, he had time to change clothes, and to think. Well, he had more than enough time to think, but now he really had time to think. Yaguruma-san hadn't put it that way, but Kagami knew that even if Shadow didn't need him full-time, as a Zecter's host, they probably wanted him to dedicate every waking moment of each working day to them.

He wondered again if he should reject his Zecter, after all. Disappear, leave, work at the Bistro or not at all and move somewhere that wasn't Tokyo. But he quickly squashed that thought. ZECT would be after him for sure, and he wasn't sure that they'd be as gentle with him as he was being with Tendou.

Getting up, he headed into the Bistro early, in the hopes he could talk to Takemiya-san about his shift. Or lack thereof. Or if she could at least do without him for a little while. Permanently, even. He wasn't keen on letting go, validating what his father wanted him to be, but he really didn't feel like he had a choice, either.

Stopping as he was halfway between where he'd parked his bike and the Bistro La Salle, he had a revelation. If he ignored his Zecter, ignored TheBee, then it would leave him. Maybe go back to Yaguruma-san, because it was his, really, not Kagami's. He had no idea how hard it was to ignore a Zecter, because he'd never had one to ignore, but he'd have to try. ZECT's documentation said that it took a while for a Zecter to stop chosing a host, which was why they liked to swoop in and make the host accept his or her new reality.

And he couldn't escape them. He couldn't get away, not with the lengthy period of time to have TheBee reject him. No, he was TheBee's host until it realized it made a mistake.

He staggered at a sudden pain on/in his chest and took a deep breath. Did the Zecter feel how he felt, and know what he'd thought? He wouldn't put it past the unknown machine. It could be punishing him for even thinking of leaving it.

Or it could be that after he talked to Takemiya-san about a leave of absence, he needed to go see a doctor about his chest pain. And now, being a host, it would be a ZECT doctor trained to know the medical problems of those who were chosen as hosts. He wondered who would handle that, and decided to call Yaguruma-san after he finished talking to Takemiya-san.

He pushed the door open, entering and relieved to see no Tendou in sight. Takemiya-san was there, and Hiyori, but no Tendou haunting the place. Kagami thought about inquiring, but decided against it. Takemiya-san and Hiyori didn't need to know the fine details of his love life, or even that he had one.

Waiting until Hiyori was busy putting out new tablecloths before setting up to make her lunches before she went home for the day, Kagami turned to Takemiya-san. "Erm, Takemiya-san?"

"Yes?" She asked, somewhat distracted as she tried to make some of the items that would be in high demand and yet could be made before hand.

"Erm…." He was trying to form words, really. They just didn't want to come out, not with sweet Takemiya-san being so short-staffed and all, and him not really wanting to leave his work at the Bistro for ZECT.

"What's wrong, Kagami-kun?" Takemiya-san asked, straightening up and looking concerned.

"ZECT's... offered me a full-time position," Kagami said awkwardly.

Takemiya-san's eyebrows rose as she crossed her arms. "ZECT's been offering you a full-time position for a while now."

Kagami gave a quick nod. "But they offered me a new job... and it's great, but it's mandatory full-time. I don't know how long it'll last, either."

"So, you're giving me notice?" Takemiya said, being direct.

"Yes," Kagami said. "But with the hopes that you can hire me back someday." There. That didn't sound too bad, or too squeaky, or too anything else.  
"Kagami-kun," Takemiya-san said gently. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

He would not look at her. If he did, he might start crying. He liked Takemiya-san. She was a good boss, maternal when he needed her to be, stern and strict sometimes when he needed her to be too. And he was giving this up for a full-time position with ZECT, a dangerous one?

Because being a host meant the front lines, in the heat of the battle. It wasn't something he'd precisely been trained to do, and now he was looking at giving up a job where the worst that might happen was someone threw a bowl of soup on him, to something where he might very well be killed.

Takemiya-san could be forgiven for questioning his sanity, even though she didn't know the particulars.

"No," Kagami admitted. "But if I do it right, I can come back."

If he got things right, if he fought well, then he'd be released. Albeit as a Native Worm, but Takemiya-san didn't need to know that.

Takemiya-san put a hand on his arm. "There will always be a place for you here. Just don't forget to come back."

Kagami nodded, not being able to say anything.

"Now in the meantime, could you help with the tables?" She said, going back into a businesslike mode. Takemiya-san, substitute mother was gone, and in her place was the determined cook and businesswoman.

"Erm. Right," Kagami said, hurrying out of the kitchen, intent on not making his last day a total mess. Just because he was leaving didn't mean that he could slack on his last day.

The day passed by surprisingly quickly, without too many distractions. Kagami was vaguely aware that he was serving his last shift at the Bistro La Salle for a while, but he didn't have much time to think. Much to his gratitude, Tendou didn't show up, didn't rock his world. But maybe Tendou was saving that for later, saving it for a time when he could confuse the hell out of Kagami again.  
Takemiya promised she'd pay him, and he believed her. So, with a quiet goodbye, he put away his apron for the last time and said goodbye to the Bistro La Salle... at least until he could come back. Now all he had to do was talk to Tendou, who would undoubtedly show up at his front door, being his usual indescribable self.

But there was no knock on the door that evening. Tendou either was busy - or so Kagami hoped - or he was having a hissyfit. A quiet, egotistical hissyfit, but a hissyfit none the less. Tendou might figure it out, or might not figure it out. Yaguruma-san had indicated that Tendou wasn't Kagami's problem anymore, so he didn't worry about it. If Tendou decided to show up one evening, they'd talk.

But until then, he'd live. Yawning, he looked at the door once more, and went to bed.

He sleep surprisingly well, without dreams.

In all, it wasn't too bad. Of course, the whole thing hinged on how well he could do in the field, but that wasn't worrisome, not at all.

And at least it was shorter than he expected, at least for a full-time day. And he'd probably be busy with paperwork and training most of the time. In fact, he'd probably be real busy with the paperwork, a somehow not surprising thing becuse of his sudden jump in status. He hoped that it would be a jump in salary as well. Another thing to ask Yaguruma-san. Not that it was the end of the world, just as long as he could pay his rent and not have to live somewhere the son of the Great Kagami Riku shouldn't be living. But he suspected hosts, being in such hazardous situations, were paid quite nicely.

He'd know when he got his first paycheck.

The next days passed as quietly as their predecessor. There were no Worms for Shadow to fight, and it was put on Standby for the foreseeable future. Kagami had no doubt that this was his father's idea, his father didn't want him hurt after all, and that he would be kept away, safe, as long as was needed.

Maybe his father intended to force the separation by not allowing Kagami to fight. By letting the connection between him and TheBee wither away from lack of battle. Kagami wouldn't put it past the man. Kagami Riku couldn't strip his son of his Zecter, but he could do what he had to do to make his son's life go the way he thought it should go.

In the meantime, the paperwork needed to be commander of an elite squad was enough to keep him busy. Practice kept him in shape. Shadow's troops grumbled at the inaction, but Kagami guessed they were secretly thrilled to not be risking their lives. After all, troopers enjoyed being alive to spend their next paycheck too.

He hoped that, once his father judged that Kagami's bond with his Zecter was broken, that Shadow would be allowed in to battle again.

"Sir?" A trooper asked, poking his head in. "Headquarters on the line."

Kagami saved his report and ducked out of where he'd been working at his laptop. Once the identification procedures were complete, and it seemed that Headquarters was sure that Kagami was who he said he was, they transmitted a set of files. A possible worm, the likely killings, and a direction to investigate and engage the enemy if needed be.

It was as if they remembered that Kagami was a host, and someone had overriden his father's wish.

He strode out, catching Yaguruma-san's attention. "We've got orders," he said, and gave the information verbally to Yaguruma-san, the part that wasn't his eyes only. The older man nodded.

Yaguruma-san still had a better grasp of the troopers' and agents' strengths, so Kagami watched as he assigned people to the mission, making a note of whom and why. As Shadow moved out, he followed on the motorcycle that was formerly Yaguruma-san's, that was assigned to whoever was TheBee Zecter's host.

And it really didn't take long to find the Worm. The members of Shadow weren't stupid; they wouldn't be in an elite squad if they were. It was a Worm that liked the color red and went after anyone wearing it so that it could wear it. Kagami had no idea why it couldn't just pretend to be a human and buy red clothing, but who knew how Worms thought. Maybe it wanted a variety it couldn't find on just one body.

In any case, it had to be stopped, and it had to be stopped as soon as possible. Kagami ended up ordering Kageyama-san into a red shirt and jeans, figuring that if anybody could defend himself, Kageyama-san could. He kept, on Yaguruma-san's advice, a set of troops in the wings to catch the Worm as it went after Kageyama-san.

Of course, the advice was obvious, but Kagami was grateful nonetheless for it. Along with his troopers - and when had they become "his" troopers, he wondered, since he'd never been in battle with them, except for that one fateful morning when he'd become TheBee Zecter's host - he waited. If this was a molted Worm, they'd need him.

At least he would find out if he made a half-decent host, though he hoped not. One did not wish for a situation that required a host to be involved, because they were apt to be nasty and caused a lot of deaths. Maybe, though, he'd stop things before it became a problem. Stop the Worm before it became more of a problem.

All without more than the experience of one battle and Yaguruma-san to back him up. It was a tough order. But then again, Tendou had made it through his battles without getting himself killed. Maybe Kagami had hope after all.

Kagami heard a gunshot, and then trooper reports were coming all over the ZECT frequency. Kagami hurried out, mentally crossing his fingers that TheBee would come despite the enforced inactivity, and ran into battle. TheBee Zecter came at his thought, and he grabbed it out of the air and attached it to the brace, knowing the armor was forming itself around him as he ran.

The Worm had revealed itself, at least, and Kageyama-san seemed to be okay, other than having been tossed into a wall. Kagami winced and wished there was some way to put armor under that t-shirt. But there was no time to worry about that; the Worm was loose, and it was Kagami's and Shadow's job to stop it.

He heard Yaguruma-san directing things as he launched himself at the monster. Yaguruma-san seemed to have things well in hand, so he concentrated on fighting the Worm, protecting people. The civilian population had understandably made itself scarce. He'd at one time had been with them, but now was not the time to think about that. He had to defend his troops, defend the people, and if the damn Worm didn't hurry up and die soon he'd...  
The worm exploded before he had a chance to execute his Rider Sting. In the mists, a figure emerged, and Kagami nearly groaned. "Tendou."

Kagami jogged over to where Tendou was making his usual "ruler of all" sign, finger pointing upwards towards heaven. "Tendou. Didn't I ask you to stay out of Shadow's business?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished he'd said something more aggressive. But it was out there. Out there for Tendou to acknowledge it.

Tendou just looked at him as if he'd said the dumbest thing ever to come out of anybody's mouth.

"There are plenty of Worms," Kagami reminded him. He wondered vaguely who was working on Tendou's recruitment. Apparently, they were having as much luck as he'd had, which was to say, no luck at all.

Tendou looked at him once more and departed.

As the other host left, Kagami let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He quietly released TheBee Zecter from the henshin brace, canceling out his transformation. Around him, Shadow regrouped, apparently as happy to see Tendou gone as Kagami wished he had stayed.

Kagami himself was wondering if Tendou was ever going to show up at his doorstep again, or if he didn't dare sleep with another host. He keyed his mike, looking around. "Yaguruma-san, status?"

"A few wounded," Yaguruma-san said. "But everybody survived."

Letting out another held breath, Kagami nodded, even if Yaguruma-san couldn't see him. "I'm going to take care of something. I'll be right back."

Yaguruma-san acknowledged that with a brief signal, and Kagami checked in briefly with some of Shadow, checking on the health of his teammates, before taking off after Tendou.

He thought for a minute or two that he wouldn't find Tendou, but Tendou was the only one walking down a deserted street that had been left deserted by its' occupants wise decision to stay out of a ZECT-Worm fight. "Tendou! Tendou!"

Tendou stopped and waited. "You haven't been coming to my house lately," Kagami said quietly, in hopes that nobody would hear. While a relationship with another man might well spell the end of his host status and his ZECT career, he wasn't keen on using that as a way out, and he didn't want to prejudice ZECT against Tendou.

Besides, he wasn't quite sure it was a relationship, not with this lack of communication between the parties involved. Tendou came when he wanted, talked about what he wanted, and the only sign that Tendou had been there and Kagami hadn't been dreaming was that there was breakfast, still warm, after he got up in the morning. At least Tendou condescended to feed him after confusing the hell out of him.

He wondered when in the world he'd consented to being Tendou's occasional sleeping partner and why he seemed to want to return to that arrangement, even after becoming TheBee Zecter's host. Maybe he really didn't know himself, as Tendou had suggested far more than once.

Of course, maybe Tendou really didn't know him, either.

"I haven't needed to," Tendou said simply, with a tone that implied he knew what was best and Kagami didn't.

"Yes, you need to!" Kagami pleaded. "Now that I have the TheBee Zecter, it's more important than anything that we talk. That we cooperate."

He didn't know if Tendou would listen. Probably Tendou wouldn't listen. But he had to try.

"Grandmother once said," Tendou said unexpectedly, "that only those who see the light, understand the light. For those that do not see, there is no light."

Kagami rolled his eyes, unable to stop himself. "Right," he said. "Just... stay out of Shadow's way, all right?"

He didn't stop to hear Tendou's answer, even if he gave a verbal one. It was useless, anyway. Tendou only heard what Tendou wanted to hear, and Tendou was still apparently being an ass. Not that he was ever not an ass, but he was more asslike than usual.

Kagami stalked back to Shadow, glad that the conversation with Tendou had taken such a brief amount of time that very few in Shadow could have guessed where he had been. Not that it was impossible, but he hoped those few that had figured it out thought that he was bawling the other, semi-rogue host out. He made a note to ask Yaguruma-san or Headquarters if someone new had been assigned to Tendou.  
If not, he'd have to deal with Tendou, and apparently Tendou wasn't going to listen as long as they were both hosts.

He froze for a second. In order for Tendou to come in, he had to be a normal person? As normal as someone working for ZECT was, anyway?

It had its appeal. Not that he minded fighting against Worms. He was aware of the dangers and everything. But it wasn't for him.

He heard a scream and started running. Shadow was under attack again, and he had to do something about it. He could become TheBee, save their lives.

As the comm net came up again, he could hear Yaguruma-san giving directions. Yaguruma-san needed to be there for tactics. He had to be there for the fighting. He'd have to abandon his idea of getting Tendou to talk by giving up being TheBee's host for the moment, because Shadow needed him. The world needed him.

He reached up into the sky and mentally called his Zecter.

After the combat was done and Shadow had sent any troops that needed medical attention to the hospital, they regrouped at their own site. Kagami, feeling guilty about abandoning them to chase Tendou - and why had he been doing that anyway when these people were more important, he didn't know - had talked to as many of them as possible before putting down the notes he'd need to write a coherent report.

A while later, Yaguruma stuck his head into the office, and Kagami accepted the interruption gratefully. "How did your talk with Tendou Souji go?" he asked.

Kagami could only stare at him for a second while he regained his equilibrium. "I could have done better at it. Did Headquarters get him a new recruiter?"

Yaguruma-san shook his head. "I don't know."

"I might have to be the one to bring him in," Kagami said. "But in order to appeal to him, I think he has to feel I'm less powerful than I am, and I can't be that as TheBee's host."

"You're growing into a good host," Yaguruma-san said. "But you can't grow if you're obsessed with bringing Tendou Souji in. Somebody will find a way to work with him. It just may not be meant to be you."

"I found him," Kagami said, aware that he sounded a bit stubborn. "I'm responsible for him."

"Kagami," Yaguruma-san said, leaving the suffix off of his name, "Would you be willing to give up the power being a host provides?"

"I don't think my father wants me to be a host and on the front lines anyway," Kagami said miserably. "Shadow won't see action very much while I'm here. Why shouldn't I try?"

Yaguruma-san seemed to sit and think about that for a few minutes. "You really believe that?"

"I'm his only son," Kagami said. "My brother's dead, and my father had no siblings. So I'm the next generation. My father wouldn't want me out here risking my life. He wants me to find a woman, settle down, be a salaryman, and create the next generation of Kagamis. Me being a host and becoming a Worm wouldn't be something that he would want."

Giving him a small nod, Yaguruma said, "It won't be easy to get rid of TheBee. Not as easy as you - or he - thinks it is."

"But I have to try. For Shadow's sake," Kagami told him. "Yaguruma-san, is there any way to do it besides ignoring my Zecter?"

Shaking his head, Yaguruma-san said, "Not that I know of," he said. He paused again, as if seeking something that was just not coming to mind, and then remembering it. "You should know one rumor i've heard."

"What's that, Yaguruma-san?" Kagami asked curiously.

"One of the reasons that ZECT pursues reluctant hosts is part of the agreement with the Worms, who believe a Zecter's choice is sacred," Yaguruma-san said. "They try to keep hosts happy and try to stop them from rejecting their Zecters. I've heard that when ZECT fails to keep a reluctant host from rejecting their Zecter, the Worms step in."

Kagami shivered at the prospect. He liked very little of what he was hearing the last few weeks about ZECT's efforts to attain and keep hosts. Now it made a scary amount of sense. ZECT needed the Worms, the Native ones, so ZECT was going to do everything in their power to keep unhappy hosts from rejecting the Zecters and incurring the wrath of the Worms for not keeping those hosts in line.

He wondered what the Worms did to reluctant hosts themselves. Did they brainwash them? Mind control them? Talk to them? Tie their life force to their Zecter's, or at least the proximity of their Zecters?

Any of those could be possible. Any of those - except maybe the talking - were nothing he wanted to experience.

"They could be wrong," Yaguruma-san said, interrupting Kagami's thoughts. "But it's a risk."

"Then I'll take the risk," Kagami said calmly. "It's not like Shadow's being called much to battle, we'll just have to fight without me." It was risky for the rest of Shadow, he knew, but as of late they'd been fighting with other teams anyway. "I just wish I could talk to TheBee Zecter. Make it take you back."

It sounded vaguely soap-opera-ish, but there was nothing Kagami could do about that. Either he had to convince the Zecter it had the wrong host, or he was going to be on a long road getting rid of said Zecter.

"Or," Yaguruma-san said, "You could forget Shadow and forget our safety. I think that's where I made my mistake."

"Because you were fighting Tendou?" Kagami asked.

Yaguruma-san nodded. "I was so busy making sure he wasn't a threat that I wasn't protecting others about the Worm threat, and so it left me. The problem will be that if you're focused on keeping the team safe, it might sense your intent even if your actions aren't appropriate, and refuse to let you go."

"I'll keep that in mind, Yaguruma-san," Kagami said. "Thank you."

He still didn't have a clue on how to get himself out of that situation, but he figured he eventually would. Maybe he could ask his father for help; surely his father wanted him risking his life as much as he did.

That being said, he returned to his office to do the ever-present and growing amount of paperwork.

It was both hard and easy to get time with his father. Easy, because his father was his father, and since they rarely talked, the elder Kagami wasn't likely to turn down his son's unexpected request for lunch. Hard, because his father's aide was... weirdly possessive, Kagami thought, and definitely protective. After all, Kagami was the man's semi-wayward son, and only semi-wayward instead of fully wayward because he was a member of ZECT and now full-time to boot.

So he ignored the man's snotty look and glare as the man opened the door to let his father out of the limo he was riding in. Kagami himself was in a suit and tie; after all, it was a partly professional meeting and he treated it as such.

His father waved his aide off as they took their seats in the restaurant, overlooking the sea, and ordered drinks and food. "So, what did you want to talk about, son?" His father asked, somewhat gently as if he was the kind father Kagami had always wished him to be and not the mysterious man who was so high up in ZECT that he never had time for his sons.

And yet Kagami was counting on that high rank, those years spent gaining in power, and that his father would be willing to use them to bend the rules. To let Kagami free, or at least let Shadow behave as the elite unit it was.

"You know what's happened to me, right?" Kagami asked. He doubted his father didn't know about his change in status; his father had always been good at gathering information.

"Ah. Yes," his father said. "I'm aware in your... change in position." No lecture was forthcoming about how his son had put himself at risk and was putting himself at risk. Of course, his father had to know that a host didn't choose to be a host, so that shouldn't have been surprising.

Continuing on, Kagami decided pressing ahead and seeing how his father reacted to his next statement. "I don't want to be."

To his surprise, his father looked at him gravely. "Zecter hosts are not given a choice in the matter," he said, a statement straight out of the documentation but not what Kagami had expected to hear out of his father. "Regrettably, ZECT cannot interfere with a Zecter's host, as part of the treaty with the Native Worms. Unless it is to persuade that host not to... reject their new gift."

"And if that host tries?" Kagami pressed. "Would you interfere?" This was the important point. Would Kagami Riku, facing the loss of his only son, step away from ZECT policy and turn a blind eye to Kagami's efforts? Would he prevent others from interfering with Kagami's desire to be free?

"If the circumstances warranted, yes." His father looked out at the ocean, as if to avoid looking at Kagami. "And in most circumstances, it is warranted."

"So, if I try to reject my Zecter..." Kagami prodded a little more directly. "Would you interfere?"

His father was still staring out at the sea. "When you were a baby," Kagami Riku said, "I was visited by a Native Worm. It told me that you had a great destiny that humans could not be allowed to interfere in." He paused, savoring the glass of wine that had been brought in by a waiter. "Your fate and their fate are intertwined, like a pair of trees that circle each other." He took another sip. "I was allowed to raise you, but I knew that your destiny was with the Worm, and they had their own plans for you."

"They wanted me to be TheBee?" Kagami asked. Maybe that's why he'd come into Shadow before he'd become TheBee, because they wanted him to be there for when TheBee changed hosts.

"They want you to be... who you will become," his father said. "If you choose to neglect your Zecter, to become rogue, ZECT will not interfere."

"But the Worms will," Kagami said with certainty. "They have to be wrong! I'm not meant to be TheBee's host."

His father looked at him, and Kagami swore he saw something sad lurking behind his father's placid expression. "What will happen will come to pass."

Their meals arrived, and all conversation was forgotten for a few minutes.

Kagami wished his father could be more precise. But his father only stuck to "precise" in meetings with other officials, not his son, who could have surely done with a little bit of straightforward talk.

On the other hand, at least he knew that his father would not interfere if he chose to try to abandon TheBee. He'd deal with the Worms if they tried to do the same; maybe he'd get some answers out of the Worm while he was at it. He wasn't hopeful, but he had to try. Maybe he'd even talk them out of interfering with what was, after all, his choice.

And his choice was to let Yaguruma-san go back to being TheBee and he'd go back to being in Shadow's support staff. Hopefully he could make a dent with Tendou as well. Or maybe they'd assign him to a less-stubborn host, since he'd had the chance to experience being what a host was all about, if only for a small period of time.

"What if I leave ZECT?" Kagami asked out loud as he watched his father finish his meal. Kagami had finished his fast; being a host had upped his food consumption for sure.

His father merely looked at him, as if wondering why he'd be crazy enough to admit abandoning both his Zecter and ZECT to a senior ZECT official. "I mean, after I abandon TheBee."

"Then, the Worms will live by their own proverb; have you not heard it?" Kagami Riku asked.

Kagami shook his head, feeling ignorant as usual. Whatever the Worms had to say had to cast some light on the matter.

"'When a light threatens to snuff out, one must re-ignite that light or it will be lost forever,'" his father said sagely.

In other words, Kagami mused, the Worms would interfere. Perhaps they were worried about the state of the host, perhaps about the loss of power that a rejection caused. But then again, the Worms were supposed to regard the Zecters' choice as divine, and maybe they feared the loss of that divinity.

Whatever the reason, Kagami had become entangled in another species' religious beliefs, whether he liked it or not, and it was clear that if he tried to ignore TheBee, the Worms would take matters into their own hands. Kagami wondered if he'd be imprisoned until he acknowledged his Zecter, or what. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know.

Of course, if he kept thinking of TheBee Zecter as 'his' Zecter, he wasn't going to get very far in being free of it. He had to remind himself that it belong with Yaguruma-san and his time with it was temporary at best. Once it realized that simple fact as well, Kagami would be safe, the world would be safe, and then all he had to worry about was Tendou.

Life would be simpler then, if he could make it go that way. He didn't think he could, but he had to try. Ignoring TheBee Zecter would be hard unless he quit ZECT, because he'd still be expected to use his powers. He'd do it; he'd leave ZECT.

But he wouldn't tell his father. Not right there, not right then. Not when he could be stopped before he began.

So he finished the lunch with his father. His father, who was mysterious and arrogant at the same time, who if he had the slightest clue what his son was going to do, would have stopped him.

And then he went home.

He was handing in his resignation letter to his supervisor the next morning. After giving the notice, he walked off as quickly as he could, trying to avoid having an extended conversation about his motives and everything, and the fact that a host did not simply just leave ZECT.

Takemiya-san would give him his job back, he knew, but in the meantime he also had to contend with ZECT. He could be jobless for a few days. ZECT would probably come after him first, or Worms in the guise of ZECT personnel. Or even ZECT Worms. ZECT probably did have a few Native Worms working for it.

Kagami intended to let them try. He was sure that someone would try something, but that didn't mean that he would accept the Zecter. If they could only understand that Yaguruma-san was the proper partner for TheBee Zecter, then they'd leave him alone. But sense and government agencies didn't go well together sometimes; heck, they didn't go well together most of the time.

And the Worms' religious prohibition about Zecter's choices and the fact that nobody should interfere, why should that apply to hosts? Zecters were hardly parasites, but he'd have thought the host would have some say in the matter. He'd take it up with a Native Worm when they came for him. Which they might, if his father was not lying to him.

He took a walk, a casual one. One where he wasn't worried about being abducted, at least by ZECT. It would take them time to react to his departure, even if he'd been giving warnings first to Yaguruma-san and then a slight one to his father. Besides, the first place anybody would look for him was his apartment; being away from it and the Bistro La Salle would keep them away. Well, at least until he had to come home for the night.

The day was nice, however, and he could easily forget that he was unemployed and somewhat on the run. Well, he wasn't on the run yet, but he was going to be at some point, he was sure. The hum of a bee reminded him unpleasantly of that as he walked into a park.

And then TheBee Zecter buzzed into his range of vision.

He tensed, and at the same time, almost laughed. Was he expecting TheBee to ignore him just because he was ignoring it?

The Zecters had to be the first defense when it came to reluctant hosts. Not that they could speak, though Kagami had heard they could communicate their 'feelings' and 'desires', but they were there to remind said hosts of their obligations. That would certainly deter the more moral of the hosts. Besides, a human walking about with a large biomechanical insect buzzing around them was sure to attract attention.

"Go back to Yaguruma-san," he said to it. "You two were partners longer than we've been."

The buzzing sound became louder, as if TheBee Zecter was trying to say something to him. It buzzed in front of his face, making it difficult to move without stumbling over anything. "I'm not using you," he said. "But go to Yaguruma-san, back to Shadow. You belong there, not I."

TheBee Zecter acted as if it hadn't heard, and for all Kagami knew, it hadn't. A feeling of almost-irritation that wasn't his shoved itself to the forefront of his brain. TheBee Zecter didn't like his refusal very much. He wished he could tell it that it was wasting its time.

He sat down, knowing that he wouldn't be able to move forward with a very large bee in his face.

It proved to be a battle of wills. He sat there, TheBee Zecter buzzing around his head in a futile attempt to get him to go somewhere useful, or at least acknowledge he was a host.

Kagami smiled briefly. If it wanted to annoy him while there was a battle going on and it could easily choose someone else, it was welcome to do so.

As if hearing Kagami's words, it flew off. But not before there was a sudden pain in Kagami's chest once more. At least he was sitting down; there might have been trouble if he'd fainted.

They sent Yaguruma-san the second day. Kagami wondered what they'd said to him to make him cooperate. Not that Yaguruma-san needed much persuasion to go out. Even if he'd told Kagami that he wouldn't interfere in Kagami's choice, Headquarters may have said something that forced Yaguruma-san to go after him. Hopefully he'd be as open-minded about what Kagami had to say.

"Yaguruma-san," he said, allowing the former host to come inside. "I should have guessed that they'd send you." Former boss, former second-in-command, brilliant tactician... Yeah, Yaguruma-san deserved the Zecter that was, for the moment, Kagami's.

"They wanted me to tell you... Shadow is inactive while TheBee Zecter's host is rogue," Yaguruma-san said. His tone wasn't a condemnation, but a clear fact that he had been told to impart to Kagami, and one that he personally thought Kagami should know.

"They can't leave Shadow in limbo forever, Yaguruma-san," Kagami said, as if to reassure Yaguruma-san. "You'll be out in the field soon enough." He wished he could use his father's power, but his father was more likely to turn Kagami in to the Worm for persuasion purposes.

"Or they'll disband it," Yaguruma-san said gravely. "Most of Shadow knows this."  
Yaguruma-san probably never bothered to hide it from Shadow. Which, in this case, Kagami doubted Headquarters and the Worms would mind. Shadow would fight to maintain its integrity, and that meant reabsorbing Kagami. Yaguruma-san wouldn't be the only one talking to him, just the calmest one.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Kagami asked plaintively.

Shaking his head, Yaguruma-san stared at Kagami's wall. "No."

He thought about it. When Shadow was done with him, or even when Shadow was dealing with him, they'd send Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san. And after that, maybe his father. Maybe a Worm, too.

"Give me a day," Kagami said. "I need to talk to someone before the rest of Shadow comes after me."

Yaguruma-san nodded, and without condemning Kagami's choice, left. Kagami just hoped that he could talk to the Worm, could convince them that he wasn't meant for the Zecter, so that they'd let him go free. Maybe they could convince the Zecter to choose another host.

He picked up his cellphone and dialed.

"I hadn't expected to see you so soon," his father said. He was dressed in a suit and tie, though Kagami could remember when his father wore a police commisioner's uniform. That had been a long time ago, however, and he didn't remember it much.

"I… Yaguruma-san talked to me," Kagami said. "I'll un-resign tomorrow, but… I want to meet a Worm."

His father steepled his hands. "The Worms do not usually take unexpected visitors in their native form," his father said. "'For strangers bear weapons that kill the heart and the mind, even the innocent ones can kill.'"

Kagami was about to ask if he could talk to a Worm that was in a mimicked human form, but quickly realized that he'd never be able to tell the difference between a read Worm and a plant.

"Son?" his father asked, and Kagami realized his father had said something and he had missed it.

"I'm here," he said. He really was. Or so he was hopeful. Strange things sometimes did happen in the world.

"The Worms will be pleased at the return of one of their own," his father said cryptically.

"I'm not a Worm yet," Kagami said, pointing the obvious out. "I won't be..." He paused, wondering if his father really wanted to be reminded that he would be a different species in less than two years' time.

"'Those who are in the heart, will become so in the body,'" his father said, quoting what was no doubt some Worm belief. "The Worm that came to me said those words. 'What is yours will become ours.'"

"That Worm knew I was going to be a host?" Kagami asked. He wondered if the Worm in question could see into the future, or if there had been Zecters even then.

"The Worms have knowledge beyond human ken," his father said. "They are great foreseers and holders of knowledge. This Worm came to me once before, to tell me it was important to go home that night to your mother." His father paused. "And out of that, you were born."

Kagami opened his mouth and then closed it. What the hell was with his father's revelations? First his father believed that he was born for a great purpose, which was okay but he could have been told about it beforehand, and now the Worms had been busy making sure he'd be born. Which was nuts. How long had they been manipulating people like that? Could they manipulate human lives by more means than convincing humans that they were right?

"So I've been groomed for this all along?" But he hadn't. He hadn't been groomed. He'd never heard of the Zecters until he'd joined ZECT. His father had been urging him to join for a long time, but he hadn't said why, and it was in the same kind of tone that his classmates had heard about joining their parents' companies.

"The Worms knew that you would be chosen, so you were brought in for that purpose."

The Worms knew he'd be a host. The Worms had wanted him in ZECT, so of course, according to his father, he had to be in it. His life had been predicted by the Worms, so he had to follow that life, and his father had happily made him follow those predictions.

Why couldn't his life be simple? At some point, he'd been a part-time ZECT junior member and waiter; now he was about to leap back into full-time work as Shadow's leader.

"Son." His father had had to bring him back to attention again. Speaking gravely, he said, "You are not where you should be. Even the Worms know that."  
"Right," Kagami said, still distracted. When it was clear the meeting was over, he left, still pondering things.

After all, he wasn't where he was supposed to be, and yet he was scheduled - born - to be a host and then a Worm. He wondered if something had gone wrong, or if he was not behaving as he should, thus causing his father some concern. Given everything that was happening, he should have been more rebellious, should have held out for Yaguruma-san to become TheBee Zecter's host again.

Kagami suddenly didn't blame Tendou for not wanting in on the organization. It was too bad that TheBee Zecter was tied in so intimately with Shadow; being free to do what one wanted seemed much easier than being in his situation. When he came back to ZECT, to Shadow, he'd be trapped in there. Not that Yaguruma-san and his unit were bad people, but he didn't want to be tied into ZECT as being TheBee's host demanded.

He was trapped. And he knew it. So he walked back in, knowing that eventually something or someone, somewhere, had to give.

Kagami just hoped it wasn't him.


	5. Dragonfly

**Chapter 5: Dragonfly**

Kagami didn't know what to expect when he came back to Shadow's base of operations the next day. He knew he'd gain some sympathy for being willing to try to give up his Zecter so that Yaguruma-san could get it back, but not as much sympathy as he could hope for. Shadow was an elite unite, a unit of action. They weren't willing to quite completely forgive Kagami's actions which caused them to be inactive for a day. Nor would most of Shadow be thrilled about being dispersed due to their commander's disobedience.

Yaguruma-san was the first to see him. His motorcycle wasn't as brightly-colored as the motorcycle he used as TheBee; he wasn't surprised, though, that Yaguruma-san saw him and came over towards him. It was then, as Kagami placed his helmet on his bike, that several other members of Shadow had noticed he was there.

But none of them approached him, as if waiting for Yaguruma-san to pass judgment on their wayward member. Not that Yaguruma-san could, technically, since Kagami, once he rejoined Shadow, ranked over the man. He was willing to beg for forgiveness of Shadow once he had the chance, but he still outranked Yaguruma-san. "I'm back; I'm home."

Yaguruma-san nodded at that brief statement. "Headquarters sent the paperwork over," Yaguruma-san said. "It's in your office."

Of course, he'd been away from Shadow such a short time that it was still his office. Yaguruma-san hadn't taken it over, despite it being rightfully his after Kagami had abandoned his post. "Thanks."

"I'll tell Shadow-" Yaguruma-san said, but Kagami interrupted him, knowing what his soon-to-be second-in-command was going to say.

"I'll do it." With that, he strode into the building, waiting until he could be sure all of Shadow was there. By some miracle, nobody was sick, or in the hospital, or dead, though the last could be attributed to their forced inactivity.

Once he was sure everybody was there. "All of you - I'm sorry. I was hoping leaving ZECT would make TheBee Zecter go back to Yaguruma-san, who is its rightful host. I'm sorry that Headquarters punished Shadow for my choice. I'll endeavor to be as good as Yaguruma-san someday, and not dishonor Shadow again by attempting to reject the Zecter."

As he came out of his bow, he looked at the rest of Shadow. Some of them looked like they'd accepted the apology; in fact, it looked like most of them did. Only a few didn't, and he was sure that he could win them over in time, if he kept his nose clean and accepted that he was a host.

"Back to practice," Yaguruma-san said quietly, and though quiet, everybody seemed to hear and obey. The members of Shadow were soon back at practice, and Yaguruma-san was guiding Kagami back into the office area, back to his office and his desk. Kagami was glad that he had privacy as Yaguruma-san handed him a sheaf of paperwork that no doubt had to be completed.

"Thanks, Yaguruma-san," Kagami said sincerely as he settled down. He'd have to get into armor at some point that way, work with the rest of Shadow, but paperwork seemed the best defense at the moment, in real life even though it wasn't in battle. "I'm sorry that my departure made Headquarters do what it did."

Yaguruma-san simply shrugged. "There is no Shadow without TheBee. No matter who TheBee's host is, the existence of a host for TheBee dictates whether or not Shadow exists. TheBee had a host before me, and will have a host after you."  
Which meant that Headquarters had a built-in leverage for any host of TheBee Zecter. Nobody who had become part of Shadow would willingly let their group disband, and Headquarters knew it, using that to force any hosts already in Shadow to conform, and using Shadow itself to convince reluctant hosts to come in.

"There should be some hosts that freelance," Kagami said suddenly. "ZECT members who don't work with a unit, who can't be controlled as easily." Anybody monitoring him, the prior rogue, was welcome to overhear that. "If a Zecter chooses a wrong host, and ZECT is forbidden by the Worms to interfere, it could lead to disaster if the host wasn't given a choice."

He resolved to not let the next new host he ran across suffer the fate that Yaguruma-san and he himself faced. Let them be like Tendou, with their doubts and their determination. He wasn't willing to sacrifice someone to ZECT's dictums when they could have done so much better on their own.

"You're still sure that TheBee Zecter made the wrong choice," Yaguruma-san said, though there was a question in there somewhere. A question like how he could believe that Zecter hosts could be so much better off without ZECT controls, that Kagami thought that he was not good enough for TheBee.

Kagami wished he could give an answer to those, or at least one that Yaguruma-san could believe. Could believe in, for that matter. Yaguruma-san was a brilliant tactician, that was for sure, but he was limited by his mindset. A mindset that Kagami wasn't limited to, thanks to his frustrations, his doubts, and in a way, Tendou.

Funny, he thought he'd never thank Tendou for anything. Not that he could thank Tendou for anything, because Tendou refused to be part of his life ever since he became TheBee Zecter's host. He wasn't sure why Tendou was being so stubborn, and then wondered why he cared that Tendou was being so stubborn. Tendou was somebody else's problem now, and it was clear that Kagami wasn't going to get an unexpected visitor at his doorstep while he was still TheBee Zecter's host. He was sure his body was thanking him for the cessation of certain nighttime activities.

"I'm sure," he said simply. Even though he couldn't explain, he could respond. Try to make things right. Yaguruma-san and the others were owed that, after all. He'd be a good member of Shadow, he'd be TheBee Zecter's host, make things go smoothly until he could find his way out of it.

He remembered what his father had said the day before, that he was not in his right place. He wondered where that right place might be, if it was in Shadow, not in Shadow, or what. The fact that his father had seemed troubled by his own pronouncement said that it might not have been Kagami at fault; it may have been something beyond his - or his father's - control.

Dismissing Yaguruma-san, he concentrated on the paperwork.

The days after that fell after that were fairly quiet and Kagami fell into his previous routine; that of training, paperwork, and the occasional fight with the Worm. At least Headquarters was willing to assign them work, and Kagami was sure that Shadow's troopers were appreciative of doing something besides paperwork and training. What was the use of being an elite unit if that elite unit was never sent out to prove their prowness?

Headquarters eventually sent them out on a mission that involved makeup artists and mimicked women, or mimicked makeup artists and women. Headquarters wasn't quite sure, and it was a mission that involved some delicacy in order not to scare the Worm in question off. If the Worm was scared off, it might surface anywhere, and the killings would continue.

So Kagami split up Shadow into small units in order to uncover a possible suspect. He'd taken a trooper named Matsui with him on his, and sent Yaguruma-san and Kageyama-san with others. He'd sent out some fifteen pairs in all, hoping that he or one of the others would get a clue as to the identity of the killer while they were in mimic form.

Kagami himself had drawn a makeup artist named Kazama Daisuke. The man was a wanderer, which made Kagami's job so much harder. Kazama Daisuke wasn't the only makeup artist that seemed to maintain a permanent cell phone number but not a permanent address; a makeup artist could be called to go anywhere to practice their trade. The man had a reputation in his industry for being good, and was in high demand.

He also was traveling with an eight year old girl.

Nobody knew why a makeup artist that wandered as much as Kazama Daisuke did was taking care of a young girl, though one speculation was that the child was his daughter, and orphaned, and therefore he felt responsible for her. The reports that Kagami had been given seemed to indicate that the girl was in good health, intelligent and articulate despite her lack of recent schooling. Any report on her true amount of schooling would have to wait until they got her name.

Kazama Daisuke called her "Gon", but everybody was fairly sure that was not her real name. He didn't seem to have any daughters in his family records, but it wasn't impossible that they were biological father and daughter. Not that Kazama Daisuke was known for sleeping with his clients; he seemed more obsessed with their makeup and their looks than spending time in bed with them.

"Gon" was a mystery, and needed to be investigated as well, but not right that moment, at least in regards to whether she was Kazama Daisuke's daughter or not. Heck, she could be the one being mimicked; it wouldn't be the first time a Worm used a child's form to slip under the radar.

He'd have to watch both of them, making sure that neither Kazama Daisuke, Gon, or any of his clients showed up dead.

So he and Matsui were sitting there, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible while watching Kazama Daisuke eat lunch with Gon. He apparently (from what Kagami had overheard him saying) had an unexpected makeup session right after lunch, no doubt at a private residence where Kagami and Matsui couldn't follow. They'd just have to hope that he came out alive and still him, and his appointment would survive too.

When Kazama Daisuke finished lunch, he and Gon were soon off. Kagami thanked everything that the man wasn't the suspicious type as he and Matsui followed the pair to a boat docked at one side of the river. A group blind date, no doubt, and the girls had wanted to look pretty, so they'd called him in. The pair boarded the boat, and Kagami and Matsui settled down to watch.

It was a while before anything happened. There were no screams, so maybe Kazama Daisuke would get his job done and be out of there, and nothing bad would occur. Sometimes it was that way, that nothing happened and the watchers were on the trail several days watching for a Worm emergence or a murder. Or rescuing someone before it became a murder. Kagami just hoped he could protect both the makeup artist and the little girl from becoming Worm food or being mimicked.  
He watched the little girl, Gon, come upstairs for some air; the whole thing was probably pretty boring for her. She looked down at what seemed to be some kind of tarp; her expression turned panicked and she ran downstairs, calling for "Daisuke".

"Worm," Matsui said quietly, and Kagami nodded. They both rushed in, Matsui grabbing his bladegun, Kagami ready to call for his Zecter. Suddenly, Kazama Daisuke was ushering Gon out of the boat, two unmolted Worms and a molted one following him. Kagami mentally called for TheBee Zecter to come while Matsui opened fire, allowing the two hapless civilians to get away.

As TheBee Zecter flew into his hand, Kagami kept an eye on the molted Worm, the greatest threat. Not that unmolted Worms weren't dangerous, but not as hard to kill as the molted ones. He transformed, attacking the main Worm, trusting Matsui to keep the Worms at bay and call for help if needed be.

He himself was busy weaving and punching the two companion worms that were protecting the molted Worm. Finally, both of them exploded and he was left with the molted leader. He was forced to Clock up, to go at a faster speed, in order to catch the particularly fast worm, battling and stinging it with TheBee Zecter's sting until it exploded, leaving Kagami panting as his armor caught up with normal time again.

When time got back to normal again, he turned to check on Kazama Daisuke and Gon, making sure they were safe, only to discover that the pair were surrounded by Worms, unmolted ones, but still dangerous. He was about to start on them when Kazama Daisuke lifted some kind of grip and something flew into it. Two seconds later, Kazama Daisuke was in armor and shooting with the newly-formed gun, causing the Worms threatening himself and Gon to explode into green flames.

And then Kazama Daisuke's armor evaporated, leaving him back in his human form, the Zecter flying away. Kagami wondered if ZECT had known about the man's status as host and had forgotten to tell him about it, or if Kazama Daisuke had flown (no pun intended) under ZECT's radar and so they didn't know about him. Yet.

Kagami released his own Zecter as the man's gaze fell upon him, letting TheBee free from the brace. As it flew away, he stepped forward, walking to a place between where he'd been standing and where Kazama Daisuke was. "I'm Kagami Arata, this is Matsui Naoto," he said neutrally. If Kazama Daisuke was wary of ZECT members, Kagami would have to put him at ease. "You?"

Of course, he knew who the man was, but it wouldn't help to act like a know it all. "Kazami Daisuke," the man said carefully. He eyed Kagami as if he hadn't ever seen another host before and wasn't sure what to expect out of the one he'd just found. Plus, he had to be protective of Gon; the man's whole body language indicated that.

Kagami felt sorry for the man, because he had a feeling ZECT wouldn't be beyond using Gon to keep Daisuke in line.

"That was good shooting out there," Kagami said casually. "Have you been a host long?"

"A what?" Kazama Daisuke asked in surprise. New host, then, or so low under the radar that nobody had spotted him yet.

"Um," Kagami said, trying to think of an explanation. "You and I are hosts," he said. "We have Zecters that let us transform. You know, the big bug that turned into part of your gun."

The grip had disappeared, and Kagami briefly wondered where it had gone. Not that it was a big deal - he'd figure it out later or ask when he'd gained Kazama Daisuke's trust.

Not that it seemed that said trust was coming anytime soon. Kazama Daisuke seemed wary, unable to trust Kagami, for which Kagami didn't really blame him. Someone able to transform into armor like Kagami was could well be a threat to himself and Gon.

"Anyway, I work for ZECT, and I'd like to talk to you for a moment. Well, both of you." Gon was supposed to be smart; she'd probably resent being left out, despite being only eight years old. And the last thing Kagami needed was Kazami Daisuke to distrust him because Gon didn't like being excluded. Bringing a host in, from what he'd read and seen, was a delicate process, especially if one didn't want to scare a host off.

Kazama Daisuke just merely stared at him.

"I mean it," Kagami said sincerely. "You and Gon here." He hoped Daisuke wouldn't be flighty because Kagami knew his name, or at least Gon's. Kagami didn't have a problem explaining what they'd been doing; in fact, it might make things safer for the local makeup artists and those who used them.

Kazama Daisuke's eyes narrowed; it was clear that he was taking Kagami's words as a threat to Gon, and if he'd had any contact with ZECT agents before, he might well have been justified if the recruiter in question had skipped quickly from enticement to entrapment. Or maybe the man was naturally cautious and paternal. It could work either way, and he was hardly going to threaten Gon. He wasn't that stupid; even being a host, he knew that another host may well be as powerful as he, and he didn't want to get in a fight. That would certainly make a really bad first impression.

"Please?" Kagami pleaded. "It's important."

At last, Kazama-san seemed to give in, if grudgingly, with a look that promised murder if Gon was hurt. "Matsui, you stay here," Kagami said, knowing that the other host would likely be more comfortable if he didn't have a fully-armored ZECT trooper hanging practically over his shoulder.

"Who are you?" Kazama Daisuke said, the wariness back, as if it hadn't ever gone away. Of course, it really hadn't; Kagami knew that one wrong word and Kazama Daisuke would either run or transform. And then they'd have to report his existence back to ZECT, since Matsui had been with him when he'd run into Kazama-san. If ZECT didn't know about him anyway.

If Kagami had a choice, he'd have let the man be free a bit longer; not that he wouldn't escape discovery forever, but at least it was a little freedom, for both Kazami Daisuke and Gon.

"I told you, I'm Kagami Arata, and I work for ZECT." He paused a moment, to see if the man had any questions, but Kazama Daisuke didn't. Nor did Gon, surprisingly. Kagami was sure that she'd have a few questions for him at some point. When no questions were forthcoming, he continued. "I'm a host like you, as I said. But I work for ZECT, the agency that handles the Zecters like yours and mine, and that works with the Native Worms. We'd like to have you work for us."

He doubted he'd gotten this far, so fast with Tendou. Tendou had rejected ZECT off the bat, even before he knew much about them. His distrust meant that he was still not a ZECT member, even tenuously, unless his relationship with Kagami counted. Well, the liaison/recruter relationship Kagami had with him, if barely. Not the other kind of relationship that nobody except himself and Tendou knew about. At least he hoped that nobody knew about; he didn't want his father to think that he, his father's only son, was gay. Which he felt he wasn't; he was just having this inexplicable relationship, sort of, with another guy.  
Though that would probably get him tossed out of ZECT fast, his bond to TheBee, such as it was, forcibly broken. Or maybe not.

ZECT so rarely interfered in a Zecter's choice that he may well have been shifted into a tenuous relationship with his former employers; they wouldn't have wanted him and yet they wouldn't have really had a choice.

But in the meantime, he had to figure out what to do with Kazama Daisuke. Kagami really couldn't see the man working full-time for ZECT; he might well end up being one of those who fought Worms and was paid for it, but not full-time. More freelance than anything else.

"I work for myself," Kazama Daisuke informed him curtly. "I didn't choose to be a 'host', and I have more important things to do."

Kagami looked at the other man. "One of these days, you're not going to get a choice," he said quietly. "If you join ZECT now, you can persuade the people above me that you are better off working freelance - which means you can do your work alongside fighting Worms. If you don't, you may not have a choice. You might be pressed into a unit like I am and you can't get out of it."

"I have better things to do," Kazami Daisuke restated.

"Please," Kagami said. "Listen to me. Let me take you to someone. Tell them what you want. I'm sure they'll listen. ZECT can probably even help your career." The last part, Kagami was sad to admit, was made up. But he didn't want Kazama Daisuke forced the way he was, with no way out, and he was sure the other man would chafe at the restrictions Kagami himself was under.

But Kazama Daisuke just looked at him one more time, and turned away, taking Gon with him. Kagami wished he could convince the man as to his veracity, but he didn't think he was going to get that lucky.

"But Daisuke…." He heard Gon saying in a pleading tone.

Daisuke was paying attention to Gon, that was for sure, but he didn't seem interested in her pleadings. The man's mind was made up and there was nothing any of them could do to change it, it looked like. And if he was determined to be stubborn, he could well be not listening to any rational voice.

Kagami included himself and Gon in those rational voices. Of course, maybe Daisuke - he mentally called the man that now that Gon had, not that he'd use that to the man's face - would come around after Gon had talked to him for a while. She was definitely the sensible, rational type, he thought, as he heard her pleading to Daisuke to think and listen.

Obviously the more adult of the two was the one that was not even into puberty.

Daisuke looked in Kagami's direction, and Kagami tried to look as harmless and non-threatening as possible, even with Matsui rejoining him, looking askance at the new, or presumably new, host.

"Should I notify headquarters, sir?" Matsui asked, nodding after Daisuke and Gon.

"I'll notify them when I get back," Kagami replied. "We'll need a full report."

"Right, sir," Matsui said, saluting. Kagami tried not to wince as Daisuke watched them.

"Let's go," he commanded, hoping that he'd run across Kazama Daisuke again.

Matsui followed him back to their bikes, the two riding off towards their base of operations.

He and Matsui were the only ones - well, more or less the only ones - at their base of operations, most of Shadow apart from one or two left at their base involved in the large operation. He could hear Shadow coordinating as he checked in, somewhat amused that Shadow didn't really need their figurehead leader. Yaguruma-san was coordinating them without Kagami.

If it weren't for TheBee's power, these people wouldn't need him at all. But because Headquarters was determined to keep at least one host loyal by tying it to Shadow, he was there until TheBee decided to change hosts. If it ever did, since it didn't seem to have any inclination to do so.

"Sir?" Matsui asked, reminding him that he was still their commander, figurehead or not, and he didn't want them to think he was about to reject TheBee Zecter again. He was sure that after the last time, they were watching him closely for any signs of rebellion. They weren't likely to risk Shadow being made inactive or being broken up because he couldn't behave and act like he should.

"Right," Kagami said. "Keep me appraised. I'll be in the office doing paperwork."

He swept off, not willing to deal with the Shadow members right that moment. His mind was still stewing on how to handle Daisuke, how to handle the situation, how to get through this without getting someone stuck in ZECT as he was. If he disappeared suddenly, Shadow would put all of its formidable resources into tracking him down and dragging him back to work, and while he didn't mind work - most of the time - he was still convinced that Yaguruma-san was TheBee Zecter's proper host, and neither TheBee Zecter, Headquarters, nor Yaguruma-san could figure that out.

Kagami just hoped that he wasn't the one not being able to figure things out. It wouldn't be a good thing to discover that he was TheBee Zecter's rightful host and just delusional that he wasn't. Well, he was its host, but not its rightful host.

The Worm must have forced ZECT to make Shadow go after him, citing their shyness and cultural taboos, and ZECT had obligingly sent Shadow's interim - and proper - leader to reason with Kagami before they tried tougher measures.

Keeping in mind Kazama Daisuke's attitude, and his own problems with ZECT's handling of hosts, he set down to write his report on Daisuke. He recommended that the man be brought in freelance, in order not to interrupt his own life, and to make him more willing to cooperate with ZECT. He hoped that Headquarters would keep his recommendation in mind when they sent someone to approach Daisuke. They probably would; anybody observing Kazama Daisuke for any length of time would know that the man wouldn't want to be restricted the way Kagami was restricted. He wished that he'd done the same thing with Tendou Souji; it would have made things a lot easier. At least Headquarters was somewhat treating the man as freelance; maybe they'd be content with that for a while. A long while, until Tendou got his brains together.

He wondered once more when Tendou Souji was going to make a late appearance at his place for the night. It would be a good thing if the man did, because they still had a lot to discuss, and it wasn't like the man was showing up at his battles lately anyway. Kagami wondered who his handler was, and if they were handling the man a heck of a whole lot better than he had. Who knew, maybe ZECT had offered Tendou something to make him come in. Unless the man showed up in the same place Kagami was at work, or at Kagami's place, he'd have no way of knowing. Of course, he might only know if they both showed up at the same battle, and Headquarters might or might not send two Riders to the same place, especially since Kabuto and Shadow didn't get along.

The next report was about the Worms and how they'd been defeated. Since Headquarters would know about Daisuke by the time Kagami turned in his report, since he was sure the Matsui probably called them or Yaguruma-san anyway, he mentioned his entire meeting with the man and the fight, and hoped that it was enough. He opened a comm line and checked into casualties, and was pleased to find that Shadow had no injuries, possibly because he and Matsui had found the Worm. He recommended checking up into the Worms' Modus Operandi and seeing if this was the same, or if they had two Worms on their hands, and he'd caught one by mere coincidence.

Which was possible, true. It wasn't the first time a ZECT unit investigating a Death by Worm had run across a completely different Worm. He'd probably have to have his people, Shadow, keep on surveillance until they were sure that the Worm that had just been destroyed was the culprit. Or if the Worm in question was one of the unmolted ones that ZECT saw a lot of.

Either way, it was a Worm, and he had a report to finish, and maybe if he was lucky he could get more information on Kazama Daisuke. He finished his report, calling Daisuke's information up before ZECT decided he didn't need to have access to it anymore. He doubted that ZECT would assign him as Kazama Daisuke's liaison, given that he was a host and commander of an entire unit, but stranger things had happened. Of course, Tendou had been taken off his hands once TheBee had chosen him, and although it had improved his relations with his new unit immensely, and well as taken some of the pressure off of him.

He still wondered who had gotten Tendou as their assignment.

Kagami proofread both of his reports, making sure they were accurate and made sense before sending them off to Headquarters. He might often feel like he was a figurehead leader - he was sure that most of Shadow still considered Yaguruma-san to be their leader, and Kagami just happened to be a very powerful mascot who also ended up with all the tough and annoying paperwork so Yaguruma-san didn't have to. And, oh boy, did he have paperwork.

With that done, he wandered back to monitor the other teams. Even if Yaguruma-san was keeping things together, while also doing his own surveilance, Kagami still had a responsibility to know what was going on. Figurehead he might be, but Shadow was still his unit, as Tadokoro-san's unit had been his unit.  
He wondered how Tadokoro-san was doing, and Misaki-san too, and if he'd ever see them again. Maybe in an operation, probably, but he'd probably never be in that unit again unless he got rid of TheBee Zecter, or TheBee Zecter left him. And it was clear that ZECT and Shadow wouldn't let him leave TheBee Zecter, so he just had to hope that the Zecter left him.

Life had been so much simpler when he'd been the junior member of Tadokoro-san's team.

But there was nothing to be done about that now, unless he wanted to specifically cause TheBee Zecter to leave him, which he had no idea how to do. He doubted TheBee Zecter would even let him do something contrary to its purpose. Zecters seemed to be good at that. He shuddered, remembering how the Zecter had tried to call him into duty. It may have given up fairly easily the other day, but he had no doubt that had he resisted more, he'd have gotten it back to disturb him. From what he'd read, freelance hosts were usually alerted more by their Zecters than by ZECT, though ZECT certainly wasn't beyond getting in touch with said hosts to coordinate with their units. ZECT preferred to put their hosts with units for the same reason that Kagami had discovered when he'd tried to force TheBee to choose another host - the unit kept the host in line and kept them from going rogue, deserting ZECT and rejecting their Zecters.  
That had been a painful lesson, and one that Kagami hoped that Tendou and Kazama Daisuke would be free of. It wasn't bad having control of a unit - well, sort of, in Kagami's case - but it as easier to accept things if there wasn't a pressure to conform, to stay, to not make waves, fight Worms, and be good little hosts.

Kagami tried to imagine Tendou Souji being a 'good little host' and snorted. Tendou was probably driving his current handler crazy unless they preferred trailing after him, trying to get him to cooperate, even inadvertently, with ZECT. Which was possible; ZECT wasn't stupid. And any handler assigned to Tendou would come to the same conclusion eventually. Since Tendou didn't trust ZECT (though Kagami had a suspicion that Tendou may have merely preferred to be in charge; he wouldn't put it past the man based on what he'd experienced some nights), ZECT would either have to put up with that or use more forceful measures. Kagami hoped that they'd just put up with Tendou; it would be easier for everybody involved.

Eventually, Shadow finished their assignments and started coming back to base. Kagami resolved to have a word with each trooper. He knew that all of them had to write some kind of report, but he figured he could be more like Yaguruma-san if he managed to understand what Yaguruma-san saw in each report. Then he'd talk to Yaguruma-san and see what the man had gotten and he hadn't.

He debriefed Matsui first, though, made sure that what the man had see was what he thought the man had seen, and that his report wouldn't conflict with Matsui's. Not that he found that Matsui had contradicted his anyway; the trooper had simply thought that he was trying to talk Kazama Daisuke into the organization per regulations and had no clue that Kagami had been trying to give the advice he was giving. ZECT would have been very unhappy. On the other hand, maybe they would have only been unhappy with him presuming he knew how to deploy a new host.

But he knew that Kazama Daisuke wasn't going to bow down to ZECT pressure, not unless they used Gon against him, and Kagami didn't want that to happen. Better the man be freelance than be captive. He hoped he could make Headquarters understand that, through his report. He felt sorry for those who tried otherwise; the man didn't seem like he'd do well in the captivity of being in a unit like Kagami was.

Well, Kagami wasn't doing so well either, but that was mostly because he wasn't keen on being a host, and he wasn't into being forced back by those in his unit. He definitely wished for simpler days, days that would never come.

After he was done with Matsui, he checked in, interviewed a few more troopers as they were ready. Nobody had seen anything, so everybody was hoping that the Worm that he and Matsui had dealt with was the one that was killing makeup artists and their clients. Kagami knew that Headquarters would want Shadow to stay on assignment at least a few extra days; not that Kagami was opposed, because it gave him a lot of time to think.

Maybe he'd run across Kazama Daisuke again; in fact, he bet that he'd be assigned to tail, and possibly recruit, the man again. If he wasn't, then Yaguruma-san would be, Kagami had no doubt.

Finally, Yaguruma-san came in as Kagami finished the last of the Shadow personnel who had come in before him. Kagami straightened up, motioning the older man to come into his office. If Yaguruma-san got assigned Kazama Daisuke, then Kagami needed to talk to him to make sure they saw eye to eye and didn't send headquarters conflicting recommendations on what to do with the man. Given the man's reaction to Kagami himself, he definitely didn't want Kazama Daisuke trying to abandon his Zecter or, again, forced by ZECT to accept said Zecter. Or put him into a unit.

He mentally told himself to stop obsessing about it and to just talk about the Worm and Daisuke and what to do next. After all, the more he obsessed over it, the worse he'd feel about it, and the more that he'd obsess over it. Vicious cycle.

"Yaguruma-san," he said, as the two of them were alone, "If you found a new host, what would you do?"

"I would report them to headquarters, and let headquarters decide," Yaguruma-san said. "I heard that you ran into one today."

Kagami nodded slightly. "Kazama Daisuke. He seems like he's in the process of trying to reject his Zecter. I'm just hoping Headquarters sends someone quickly enough - though maybe the Zecter is enough."

"The Zecter should be enough," Yaguruma-san advised. "Beyond that, he's not our worry, unless we run across him before then." He looked at Kagami. "You're still worried about Tendou Souji."

"I believe that someone could have handled him better than I did," Kagami said neutrally. "After all, I didn't have any experience in the matter."

Yaguruma-san seemed to wave off his concern. "Neither do most recruiters, I'm told." He looked at Kagami. "Mine didn't."

"Yaguruma-san, you weren't in ZECT when you were chosen by TheBee Zecter?" Kagami asked, amazed. Yaguruma-san seemed to be career ZECT, so it totally surprised Kagami that he wasn't.

Yaguruma-san shook his head. "I'd actually been sent to another agency," he said. "Temporarily, from ZECT. I'd been exposed to TheBee once before, before the host before me was chosen. But I wasn't, and headquarters thought I could use the training, so I went. I happened to be at the site of a Worm attack, and much like you, I saw that troopers were in danger. I saved them."

"And TheBee Zecter chose you then," Kagami said, in awe. Maybe TheBee awarded its loyalty to those who could protect its own best.

The other man nodded. "Sometimes a Zecter makes a mistake by omission. Sometimes it takes a while for them to realize who their host should be... And sometimes the host isn't ready yet. Sometimes they have to prove themselves ready."

"And sometimes they're just in the right place at the wrong... er, right time," Kagami said, not wanting to offend Yaguruma-san. Though he doubted that Yaguruma-san was unaware of his feelings about being TheBee's host; in fact, all of Shadow was, after all.

"Sometimes," Yaguruma-san said. "Sometimes we, as hosts, are chosen for a reason."

"Even though it feels like the Zecter made a mistake?" Kagami asked.

"Yes," Yaguruma-san. "It didn't choose wrong, you just are doubting its judgement." Yaguruma-san paused. "And yet you trust it in battle."

"Well, of course I trust it in battle," Kagami said indignantly. "I trust it to get me though battle because I'm not the tactical genius you are."

He was aware that he'd just ranted at Yaguruma-san, who he really respected, even to the point where he really wished he'd never been transferred to Shadow, never met TheBee Zecter, never been TheBee Zecter's host.

"No, but you will be," Yaguruma-san promised. "You're intelligent; you can learn. You can learn to see what I see."

"And TheBee Zecter shouldn't have chosen me," Kagami said gloomily. Then he realized he was getting in the I'm-TheBee's-host-woe-is-me rut, and tried to resolve to get himself out of it. Getting out of being TheBee's host was going to require rational thought, not panic, and not letting Yaguruma-san have a clue as to his plans.

That he'd tried before shouldn't matter; he just knew better on how not to proceed the next time he did it.

"We're not here to question TheBee Zecter's choice," Yaguruma-san said. "It chose you, as it chose me. You just have to realize why, as will this Kazama Daisuke."

"And Tendou Souji?" Kagami asked, almost daringly.

"I wouldn't say that's the man's problem," Yaguruma-san said semi-mysteriously.

"No," Kagami agreed. Whatever Tendou Souji's problem was - besides being a total weirdo, of course - it wasn't rejecting the Zecter. The man had embraced being a host whole-heartedly; it was being in ZECT that posed a problem for him. Like it should for anybody who was chosen, not that Kagami could tell Yaguruma-san that. Yaguruma-san had been so brainwashed by the organization that he couldn't see beyond it. Kagami was fortunate that his dislike for his father and everything his father stood for had saved him from becoming Yaguruma-san, had saved him from being a mindless ZECT flunky that believed everything the were doing and everything that they did was perfect.

It kept him from giving himself completely to Shadow, to his role as TheBee's host, from being able to think and see that just because it was ZECT didn't mean it was good. Of course, his father had said that the Native Worms would be the ones after him if he tried to reject being a host, not ZECT, but in practice Shadow had been after him anyway.

But was that because Shadow would have been after him anyway? Had they really been put out of action, or had Yaguruma-san just said that to keep Kagami in mind and to keep him from becoming rogue? ZECT might not have had anything to do with it; it could have been Shadow stepping in before the Native Worm did.  
He was Shadow, he was a host, he was the reason for Shadow's being. He wouldn't be allowed to leave, not while he was TheBee Zecter's host. Shadow wouldn't let him.

It was depressing.

"We'll have to see," he said finally. "He still bears watching until this assignment is over, unless a recruiter is assigned to him by then."

Yaguruma nodded, and the discussion went on.

Kagami received the instructions for the next day late that afternoon, and was both surprised and not surprised that they included Kazama Daisuke on the watch list. Not only that, but the instructions specified that Kagami was to assign either himself or Yaguruma-san out to watch the new host. He bet it was because he was a current host, and Yaguruma-san was a former host, so they might actually know what they were doing. Not that anybody in Shadow couldn't handle it, because they sure as hell managed him.

He assigned himself to Kazama Daisuke, on the theory that he could be better at convincing the man to join than Yaguruma-san could. Not that Yaguruma-san was bad, but he wasn't the best choice. He could be a little… Loyal and even naive (at least from Kagami's POV) at times. It didn't make him any less a good leader and brilliant tactician, he just couldn't see beyond what ZECT had told him.  
So he and Matsui (since Matsui had seen him interact with Daisuke anyway) watched Kazama Daisuke. Kagami hoped to have the chance to convince Daisuke that he should freelance with ZECT.

However, as he and Matsui watched, Kazama Daisuke did nothing but his routine, doing makeup sessions both scheduled and spontaneous. Kagami probably wouldn't have a chance to talk to him. He had accepted that the day would be wasted and boring, because he didn't have much interest in the makeup requirements of women of all ages, or how charming Kazama Daisuke at least tried to be with his clients.

And then the radio traffic on Shadow's channel took off. One pair of troopers, Tanaka and Hayashi, had not run across the Worm in question (Kagami guessed that he and Kazama Daisuke had taken care of it the day before, but they still had to look), but they had run across a set of Worms that were more than happy to stalk after some civilians that had been at the wrong place at the wrong time, and had nothing to do with their surveilance. Kagami presumed that the makeup artist he'd assigned the two of them to was all right and merrily doing makeup, or running with the rest of the group that had noticed the big ugly Worms menacing the area.

It wasn't far away; maybe a mile, likely less, from where Kazama Daisuke was having tea. Or coffee; the man had a bizarre like for the stuff.

Kagami took off with Matsui. He figured that he didn't need to take the vehicle, not with the attack site so near. Shadow training kept him in good shape, for which he was thankful. He saw Kazama Daisuke's Zecter swoop in and had no doubt that the man was being called as well. No doubt that the action was either moving in their direction or that the Zecter was there to plead with its host to cooperate and join the fight. Kagami didn't have time to think of it as he sped along the way.

As the two of them got closer to the location, Kagami heard the noise of ZECT's bladeguns, and hoped that he wasn't too late, that there had been no Shadow or civilian casualties. Not that any ZECT casualties had been reported on the comm system yet, and he assumed that this being Shadow, there would be unless both of them were dead. And since he could still hear them, they were still alive. Good.

His heart dropped as two civilians, a mother and her little girl, came across the street laughing. They seemed to be oblivious to the gunfire that he could hear, though he had to wonder if his hearing had been sharpened by being a host, by the changes his Zecter made to prepare him for the change into a new lifeform.

And as if the Worms sensed the two vulnerable civilians, a handful of them came lumbering along, one almost behind the two of them. "Matsui!" Kagami called. "Keep the Worms at bay! I'll get these two out of the way."

"Roger," he heard Matsui call, and the trooper opened fire, distracting the set of Worms. Kagami grabbed the woman and her daughter, pulling them in the direction of Kazama Daisuke and safety. He figured that no matter how reluctant a host Kazama Daisuke was, the man would do the right thing and protect the two of them, especially since they were both female.

He both heard and felt TheBee Zecter coming to join him in battle, the mental urging joining the physical sound. "I need to get these people out of here," he said, both to himself and to the Zecter. He was aware that Matsui was barely keeping his own against the six or so Worms. "Help Matsui, keep him safe."

From the sounds on the comm, there were more troopers coming to battle the original invasion, and Kagami made sure at least some aimed for the small infestation that he and Matsui were battling. He kept pushing the woman and her child, and the woman didn't seem able to run on her own; either by some physical reason or plan freezing fear, she could not seem to move without Kagami and her child helping her. He could still hear TheBee Zecter, still hear the Zecter's insistence.

"Please," he breathed, trying to project the need to save the civilians, get them out of there, do what he needed to do. He and Masui were a team, nothing would change that, but he needed TheBee Zecter to protect Matsui, keep the man safe until Kagami could get the woman to run and get back to him.

And finally, as if the Zecter understood, the buzz receded and TheBee Zecter disappeared from his mind. As Kazama Daisuke appeared, armored and formidable-looking, Kagami pushed the woman forward once more. "Please, you need to go," he said.

"But, but..." The woman was in full panic, not that Kagami blamed her.  
"See that figure? He's here to protect you," Kagami said. "You just need to run to him, and you'll be safe." He was counting on Kazama Daisuke's preferences, that he would protect the woman and her daughter.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

He nodded in Kazama Daisuke's direction. "I'm very sure. Go!"

The woman seemed to understand, break out of her paralysis, and ran with her daughter in Daisuke's direction. Kagami, now relieved that the two of them would be okay, reached out his hand and called for TheBee Zecter.

But it didn't come, nor did he hear it in his head. Not sure why the Zecter was suddenly ignoring him, he drew his gun and prepared to back Matsui up.

"Kagami," Yaguruma-san's voice came over the comm channel, "I'm going to need that brace."

"Right!" Kagami said. "What's your position?" He might not have been Shadow's leader, not without TheBee Zecter, but he could still coordinate.

"I'm about 500 meters from your current position," Yaguruma-san said. "Drive the Worms back towards our position so you can transfer the Brace."

"Right away. Got that, Matsui?"

"Loud and clear."

The two of them started driving the Worms away, towards the impromptu rendezvous point.. Kagami got a brief glimpse of Kazama Daisuke protecting the woman from two stray Worms. Good.

Kagami still wished for a bladegun, still hoped that they could drive the Worms far enough to the other group to make a difference, but at least Yaguruma-san could handle it now. At least Shadow could be directed by the man who deserved to be in the leadership role.

Another set of Worms appeared, but Kagami could see the black-grey-gold outfits of the Shadow troopers behind them. As soon as Yaguruma-san was in sight and Kagami had a clear line to him, he took off the Brace and threw it in the man's direction.

Yaguruma-san neatly caught it, and Kagami could see him insert the Zecter into the Brace with a sure, smooth movement, as if he'd been born to it. Or at least had a lot of experience in the matter.

Kagami watched with satisfaction as Yaguruma transformed, partners once more with TheBee Zecter. He never thought he'd be glad to be back in a support role rather than a leadership role. Actually, he reminded himself, he'd never belonged in the leadership role; he'd just borrowed it from Yaguruma-san, and now it was time to give it back.

Between Yaguruma-san and the Shadow troopers, the (thankfully unmolted) Worms were soon taken care of, and Kazama Daisuke had thankfully (before Yaguruma-san had a chance to talk to him) disappeared, so the group of them that had bee in the firefight headed off to base for medical and other needs.

It wasn't hard for Kagami to turn the office back to Yaguruma-san; Yaguruma-san looked a bit less than enthusiastic about getting the paperwork back, but he, not Kagami, would have to live with that.

After all, he was no longer Shadow's leader. Oh, it was an informal change for the moment, but that wouldn't last long. And maybe he'd be assigned back to Tadokoro-san's unit and everything would go back to normal.


	6. Scorpion

**Chapter 6: Scorpion**

The rest of the day that he'd given up - or been abandoned by - TheBee Zecter, Kagami had been stuck doing paperwork. Yaguruma-san had taken charge of coordinating Shadow, ordering Kagami to finish up the paperwork, write his report, and inform Headquarters as to TheBee Zecter's sudden change of host.

For the moment, Kagami was still in Shadow, though he figured he could soon ask Yaguruma-san to see if he could be transfered back and/or allowed to return to part-time status. Preferably both, though Yaguruma-san would probably be more willing to get Kagami transfered than to change him out to part-time. After all, Yaguruma-san hadn't liked it when Kagami was part-time as a support person, and that had been impossible during his brief time as a host.

Kagami returned to the office to find out what he would be expected to do, and found Yaguruma-san sitting at what had been Kagami's desk, and of course before that, Yaguruma-san's own. The new - well, somewhat new - commander of Shadow was typing at a computer, and Kagami wondered if Yaguruma-san had gotten his own report in.

"Ah, Kagami," Yaguruma-san said, indicating the spare chair in the room. "I wanted to see you."

Sitting down, Kagami hoped that the news was that he'd be sent back to Tadokoro-san's unit that day after he finished any residual, forgotten paperwork.

"Regulations say," Yaguruma-san told him, "That when a Zecter suddenly changes hosts, the old host needs to stay in the unit - or if freelance, be put temporarily in a unit near the new host - until ZECT and the Native Worms are certain that it doesn't revert to its old host mid-battle. It's happened before."

"So, I'm in Shadow a bit longer?" Kagami asked. It made sense, but he didn't want TheBee Zecter to revert, nor did he want to influence it to revert. At least TheBee Zecter and Yaguruma-san had been together before, so it wasn't a big thing, and Kagami doubted that TheBee Zecter would come back to him, but still...

"For a month, possibly a month and a half, until Headquarters is sure that you, TheBee Zecter, and the Brace aren't going to be in different places," Yaguruma-san replied.

"That's not going to happen," Kagami said confidently. "It knows you, Yaguruma-san. It knows you're stable, and that you'll protect Shadow."

The words were partly flattering, partly a plea. And Yaguruma-san knew it, and Kagami knew that he knew it.

"Still," Yaguruma-san said, in a tone that indicated that he wasn't going to budge on the matter. Kagami had no doubt that he'd be full-time for a little bit longer, be assigned wherever Yaguruma-san was whenever possible. Support, yes, still, but important support, critical support.

"I understand," Kagami said neutrally. "Should I have assigned you to my side?" He was frustrated that Headquarters hadn't told him that he could, should keep Yaguruma-san near just in case. Not that the man frequently wasn't nearby, the current operation notwithstanding, but he wished he'd been told so that he could keep Yaguruma-san nearby in case he had come up with a decent argument.

"I made sure you did for the amount of time needed," Yaguruma-san said calmly. "I've been a commander for a while, you haven't."

Which was true, Kagami realized. Yaguruma-san had managed many things. Kagami and his new Zecter had been just one of them.

He was suddenly grateful that he'd had Yaguruma-san behind him. All of them, really. Stepping in to make things go smoothly despite their inexperienced commander. If they hadn't been obsessive about making sure said commander stayed in line and didn't abandon his Zecter, things would have been perfect. If he'd wanted to be TheBee's host, things would have been perfect.

But he hadn't, and they weren't.

"Yaguruma-san," he said, thinking suddenly, "The changes that a Zecter makes to a host's body… do they reverse?"

Shaking his head, Yaguruma-san replied. "Not that I've heard of. After all, there's always the chance that you might get chosen again, and besides, they're not something that can be reversed anyway."

"Okay." Internally, Kagami shook his head. He had no idea how much his brief time as a host had changed his biology, but he bet that he'd have ZECT doctors for the rest of his life, doctors that knew and understood the changes that were made to his body. However long or short his life would be, given that he tended to be in battle or near battles most of the time.

"You should go back to training," Yaguruma-san said. "You'll need to stay in shape."

"Just in case. I understand," Kagami said, more pointedly than he really meant to sound. Yaguruma-san was his commander for the moment, after all. Not that his feelings were unknown to Yaguruma-san, but the man was his commander back again, instead of him being stuck in that spot.

It was, after all, going to only be a month. Or a month and a half. He could survive that, and then he'd be away from worrying about TheBee Zecter changing its mind, no matter how remote a possibility that might seem.

He waked out of Yaguruma-san's office, knowing the dismissal was definitely a dismissal, a cue to do exactly what Yaguruma-san said and to go back to training. Yaguruma-san was serious about his unit staying in shape - well, they all were, but Shadow practiced both staying in shape and watching out for one another - and Kagami knew that if he was going to be in Shadow for a bit longer, he had to act like he was in Shadow.

"Kagami," Matsui said in a friendly tone. He'd been talking with Kageyama-san, who would no doubt go back to being Yaguruma-san's second-in-command. Kageyama-san moved off, as if he was expecting to be called into Yaguruma-san's office at and moment, a frown on his face as if he wasn't sure that Kagami was in good favor with Shadow or Yaguruma-san anymore. "How'd it go?"

"Regulations say that I'm around for another month, just in case TheBee Zecter changes its mind and comes back to me," Kagami said. "Yaguruma-san says it's happened before, so I need to be here."

"You made a fine leader and a fine TheBee," Matsui said, grinning as if to try to cheer Kagami up by facial expression alone. "Personally, and I think the others will agree, you did good. You just weren't cut out to be that guy's recruiter."

"Yaguruma-san's better, though," Kagami said.

"True," Matsui replied. "Nobody's doubting that. But for someone who'd just been doing support, you did a good job." He paused. "And I'm sure Yaguruma-san certainly didn't mind skipping all that paperwork!"

Kagami smiled in spite of himself. "No, I doubt that he did." He really wouldn't miss that particular brand of paperwork. Reports, yes, he'd have to do them. But not the sheer amount of paperwork being Shadow's commander had entailed.

"You'll be fine," Matsui said. "You'll have your Zecter back to you in no time."

Kagami shrugged. He was hoping that it didn't, but he wasn't about to contradict Matsui, not with the man on his side. He no doubt sounded modest, but he was glad that Yaguruma-san was the one that would have to be roped in if he saw the truth, not Kagami. Well, at least that no hosts belonged in units like Shadow; Kagami knew that having ZECT support was good for the hosts in general, even for those who didn't believe in ZECT's goodness like Kagami.

Of course, goodness wasn't what Kagami wasn't thinking of, either. ZECT was fanatical about getting and retaining the hosts, there was no doubt about that. It took steps it shouldn't take, and it alienated people it shouldn't alienate. But once a host was with ZECT, and to some extent when they weren't, if the recruiter thought it would help bring them in, ZECT provided assistance.

Sometimes ZECT provided too much assistance, too much help to make them make up their minds, but Kagami certainly wasn't going to bring that up.

"I need to train," Kagami said. "I have to keep in shape...

"I get it," Matsui said, still grinning. "Don't worry, you're Shadow. You're part of us."

That was one of the worst things about it. He liked the members of Shadow, from the newest recruits to Yaguruma-san. They watched out for each other, they cared for each other even if ZECT didn't understand their need for solidarity sometimes. On the other hand, he didn't need their interference in his life, and he had no doubt that most of Shadow thought that he needed to be reunited with TheBee Zecter, that TheBee Zecter needed to choose him again. Nothing against Yaguruma-san, but generally Shadow - and Kagami didn't blame them for it - believed that Kagami should hold the Zecter and do the paperwork, and Yaguruma handled the battle maneuvers.

So, Kagami spent the next few days doing paperwork and training, going out with ZECT and providing support. He wasn't at the front line, which didn't bother him one bit, because he knew that a bladegun was nearby, and he was expected to jump in and provide back up fire if needed. It was what he was somewhat comfortable with, and not something that was beyond him.

He had yet to encounter either Tendou or Kazama Daisuke, but he decided quickly that he didn't need those distractions on top of trying to get out of Shadow. Once he was free of the close-knit group and back where he didn't have to worry about his former Zecter complicating his life, then he'd try to get in touch with both of them, see how they were doing. Make sure that they came into ZECT willingly and of their own free will.

It was with that belief that everything might turn out all right and he might have control over his destiny again that Kagami went home one night. When Kagami realized that Tendou Souji had returned to visiting his apartment at odd times, unannounced, as if to remind Kagami who was the superior in their relationship.

"Tendou," Kagami said, unable to say anything more coherent as he let the man into his apartment.

Tendou walked in as if Kagami hadn't said anything. Kagami rolled his eyes at the man behind his back, but let him take the lead. Less because he was in the mood to let Tendou feel superior to him, since he had been a host too, but because he was tired and surprised and he wanted Tendou cooperative. Wanted answers.

But Tendou seemed content to lounge on Kagami's couch, unwilling to pay much attention to Kagami. In turn, Kagami kept his irritation in check, trying to avoid alienating the man as much as possible. He wanted answers, and Tendou probably had them. Or thought he had them.

"Tendou," Kagami said, and added, "where have you been?"

Not that he expected Tendou to give him an answer, or at least a useful one. Of course Tendou would be back, now that Kagami wasn't a host, didn't have an equivalent power. And then he realized he didn't need Tendou to answer. Kagami had been powerful, been a host, been someone that Tendou couldn't control. So Tendou had stayed away from Kagami.

Kagami inwardly cursed. By losing TheBee Zecter, he'd lost the power to deal with Tendou, who seemed to understand only power, and that power through being a host. But he wasn't about to try to regain his power; he felt his face go red as he realized he was willing for a moment to regain an advantage over Tendou. He wasn't stupid, he didn't need TheBee Zecter power's to deal with him.

At least Tendou wasn't answering him, not trying some stupid excuse or even a mystical quote or anything like that. He was just looking at Kagami with his quiet, unreadable gaze. Kagami found himself looking away, cursing himself again for letting Tendou fluster him that way. Tendou was using him, using his weakness to make himself seem stronger when all he had was attitude and a Zecter.

"Never mind, I know," he said, answering his own question. "You weren't here because I had a power equal to yours, I wasn't this weak little ZECT employee that you could abuse because you know I'd stick around to recruit you!"

Tendou still said nothing, his calm look changing subtly to a what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about superior look in response instead.

"When I became TheBee, you knew you couldn't push me around anymore, and now that I stopped being a host, you want to push me around more."

Tendou still didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. In fact, Kagami was glad that he didn't, for he wasn't sure that he could say anything coherent to him.

Getting up, Kagami proceeded to ignore him. If Tendou was content to be out of his life while he could fight back against him, then Kagami could show him that it wouldn't work anymore. He wasn't a host, but he'd grown stronger in Shadow, both as TheBee and as a member of the unit, and Tendou couldn't pull the same tricks. Okay, not mostly.

Kagami had a power he hadn't had before Shadow, and even if Tendou still could make him doubt his own sanity by not saying anything and just sitting there, he had to remind himself that Tendou wasn't his concern. Tendou was someone else's concern now.

And then Kagami realized that ZECT probably had someone trailing Tendou the whole time, had seen Tendou wait for Kagami, had probably seen Kagami let Tendou in. And unless Kagami kicked Tendou out, got Tendou to leave before morning, ZECT might figure out what had been going on. He'd be somewhere, not allowed anything other than some isolated desk position somewhere, if not kicked out entirely.

Not that it would be the complete end of the world, but it would probably feel like it. Kagami didn't want them to know, didn't want them to find out. He had one choice to save himself if he wanted to.

He didn't know if he could do it.

And if he kicked Tendou out that night, he wasn't assured that Tendou wouldn't come back. He'd have to figure out some long-ranged plan to keep his job - whatever it was - intact.

"Now ZECT knows," he warned Tendou. "They know..."

"What?" Tendou came out of his silence with a sharp, demanding look. "That I visit you?"

"That you spend all night here and disappear in the morning? Probably that we're sleeping with each other, and if you weren't a host and I hadn't been a host, we'd be..." He trailed off, realizing that Tendou most likely didn't care what the ZECT people thought. Nor did he seem to care much about keeping Kagami's reputation intact. Of course, he seemed to, at times, want Kagami all to himself.

"There was someone following me," Tendou said sternly. "I did not allow him to continue following."

In other words, Tendou had lost his tail, or at least his most obvious tail. ZECT might or might not be interested in where the man was going, and if they were, they'd probably put more than one person on his trail next time. Which meant that even if Tendou had lost his tail this time, they'd find out next time, or the time after that, or the time after that...

It was enough to make Kagami tear his hair out. He wondered if he'd have any by the time he retired, hopefully from the Bistro and not ZECT, but one never knew.  
On the other hand, if ZECT knew, it would toss him out, and he could go back to his Bistro job and find some other part-time work that didn't involve saving the world. Maybe Tendou was all right not to worry after all. He smiled at that. If they found out, he'd be free of ZECT and his father, because his father would find out and ignore him and...

All right, he was grinning.

He didn't have to worry about TheBee Zecter or staying in Shadow. Of course, with Shadow's members being so close, it might not make things easy for him when his Shadow unitmates found out, but he'd be out of there quickly. They wouldn't want to associate with a suddenly uncloseted gay man who was sleeping with Tendou Souji. But if he could leave quickly, then he wouldn't have to deal with them.

Tendou was staring at him like he'd gone mad, but that was all right too. If Tendou had been the huggy type, Kagami would have hugged him, for the sheer joy that his sudden realization had brought.

"Right," Kagami said, calming down at Tendou's continued stare and blushing, hand to back of head in an embarrassed gesture. "Want something to drink?"  
& * & * &

The night had been somehow glorious, Kagami's mood remaining light and triumphant throughout the evening and beyond. He carried that good mood out to Shadow; after all, ZECT didn't know about his love life or Tendou's visits yet, but he'd soon be free.

"Yaguruma-san's looking for you," Matsui said, giving Kagami a sympathetic look. "Better get to his office right away, it's urgent."

"Right," Kagami said, heading off into the office, his good mood disappearing. Had this not been the first night Tendou had tried to slip his leash, and therefore ZECT had sent more than one person to tail him? If so, Kagami was going to find out how fast he could be fired sooner than he thought.

Yaguruma-san was, surprisingly, not working on a report or waiting specifically for him; instead, the man was reading some kind of book. "How to Deal With Unusual People" by Ichijou Kaoru, the title was, and Kagami had to wonder if that was because of himself, Tendou, or something completely unrelated. He knocked softly at the door, not surprised that Yaguruma-san had it open; for all that he was a commander, Yaguruma-san encouraged casual relationships - well, apart from a still formal commander-comandee structure - and therefore left his door open unless it was a private matter.

"Please shut the door," Yaguruma-san said, once he looked up. Kagami felt his heart drop. No matter how happy he was to be kicked out of ZECT, disappointing Yaguruma-san and the other Shadow members was going to be the tough part. His father, his father's reputation, he didn't really care about, but Shadow and Yaguruma-san? Yes.

Kagami shut the door and stood obediently until Yaguruma-san motioned for him to sit down. He looked over at his laptop, clearly reading something from it. Tendou's recruiter's report on where Tendou had been last night? Or maybe it had to do with TheBee and nothing at all to do with Tendou Souji. Maybe it wouldn't. Maybe that would come later.

Yaguruma-san looked once more at the report before turning to Kagami. "What was Tendou Souji doing at your apartment last night?"

"Um." Kagami knew that he should be doing something intelligent, or at least boasting of his bedroom conquests or something like that. But then again, he doubted that Yaguruma-san would believe that anybody had made a conquest of Tendou. Especially not Kagami.

Sitting patiently, Yaguruma-san sat, no doubt waiting for a coherent answer from Kagami. On the other hand, Kagami tried to have something coherent come out of his mouth rather than the random sounds that seemed to be coming out.

Kagami took a deep breath. He'd get out of there faster if he could talk about it. "He's been coming to my place pretty much ever since I met him," Kagami confessed. "He stays over the night, we... um... sleep together. He feeds me breakfast." He didn't want to get into explicit detail, just get Yaguruma-san to understand and to recommend tossing him out of ZECT. "Last night was the first time he showed up since TheBee Zecter chose me."

"Do you like sleeping with him?" Yaguruma-san said after a moment. "Or did you have other motives?"

Yaguruma-san thought that he was sleeping with Tendou to bring the man in! Kagami could have laughed. "He always chooses to come when he comes, I somehow end up sleeping with him, it's not because I thought I'd bring him in that way, not mostly. I don't know why he didn't show up when I was TheBee Zecter's host, but..."

"I can," Yaguruma-san said grimly. Kagami knew, suddenly, that Yaguruma-san had come to the same conclusion as he had some twelve hours earlier. Why he was bothering to ask at all, or bother, or care, Kagami didn't know.

"I'm sorry, Yaguruma-san," Kagami said, bowing his head. "I'll leave Shadow now. I don't want to disrupt Shadow's harmony."

He had gotten up before Yaguruma-san said something. "Stay. Sit down."

Kagami sat down, wondering what lecture he was in for, or if Yaguruma-san thought ZECT would somehow approve of his inadvertent method that wasn't even working. While ZECT was known to approve some oddball things to get hosts to cooperate before turning to force, he somehow thought that sex with another guy was probably not one of them.

"You're still TheBee Zecter's former host," Yaguruma-san said calmly and slowly, as if to inform and reassure a skittish three year old. "Nothing's going to change that. You still need to be here until Headquarters clears you."

Okay, Kagami wasn't going to get out of there any time soon, unless Headquarters decided that TheBee Zecter didn't need to chance returning to a gay person. Or whatever he was. Kagami wasn't sure what his sexuality was, and at the moment, he didn't have the time or brainpower to find out.

"And me and Tendou?" Kagami asked, half afraid to hear the answer.

Yaguruma-san stood up. "I'll deal with Tendou Souji," Yaguruma-san said. "I won't let him disrupt my team's harmony or my teammates' careers because he thinks he's superior."

"Yaguruma-san, are you going to tell Headquarters that... um... Tendou's been sleeping with me?" That might get him out of ZECT even if Yaguruma-san was more forgiving. "And the rest of Shadow?" That would be really bad if he had to stay a little longer.

"I'll deal with the matter of Tendou Souji," Yaguruma-san half-repeated. "You go to practice, I need you to stay in shape."

As Yaguruma-san swept out of the room, Kagami figured that the discussion was over. He shrugged and went to practice, changing into ZECT armor and joining the other Shadow members.

"How'd it go?" Matsui asked. "Were you in trouble?"

Kagami turned to the other, eternally cheerful Shadow member, and shrugged. "I'm not in trouble, someone else is. Yaguruma-san had a few questions, that's all."

"Shadow, or..." Matsui pried. "Kazama Daisuke or Tendou Souji?"

"You really don't want to know," Kagami said, hoping that Matsui picked up his subtle warning to drop the matter.

"Ah," Matsui said. "I understand." He looked in the direction of the way to the offices. "I'm glad I'm not them."

"So am I," Kagami replied. He was glad he wasn't Tendou, though it bothered him that Yaguruma-san felt the need to go after Tendou because of him. Because Kagami had slept with Tendou.

Yaguruma-san cared for his underlings, that was for sure. It just bothered Kagami, enough that he was distracted, that he was so willing to go after Tendou when Kagami had been a willing - if somewhat surprised and unsure - participant. On the other hand, there was bad blood between Tendou Souji and Yaguruma-san, at least on Yaguruma-san's end, so maybe it wasn't so surprising that Yaguruma-san would go after him.

But it still knocked Kagami off his game that a punch from Kageyama-san sent him reeling. It shouldn't have surprised him; Kageyama-san was fond of using his fists over his legs in close combat, though he, like everybody else, preferred dealing with the Worms from the other side of a bladegun.

"Sorry," he muttered. Yes, he was definitely distracted. That got him a curious look from Kageyama-san, but he got himself back up. "Let's try that again."

It was funny, how most of Shadow half-expected TheBee to come back to him, and still called him by his former rank sometimes. Not always, as Matsui proved, but a lot more than they should have. The strange, curious mixture of formality and informality was a component of Shadow, what made it work so well, what made it elite. It also could be confusing to an outsider, as Kagami well knew.

Yaguruma-san hadn't returned when Shadow was called into battle. Thankfully, Kagami wasn't the one that had to do it; that was Kageyama-san's job and he was welcome to it. Kagami obediently got into the transports with the rest of Shadow, made sure he had the bladegun that Yaguruma-san insisted he needed, even in support, and rode to the battle site.

And Yaguruma-san still wasn't there when they got into battle, so Kagami watched as Kageyama-san ordered the troops around. He wasn't sure about some of Kageyama-san's maneuvers, but he figured that Kageyama-san knew what he was doing and his training was merely different from Kagami's.

Of course, what they were supposed to do with a troop of unmolted Worms and a particularly nasty molted on without a host and Zecter team to help, Kagami wasn't so sure. But he watched the battle, prepared to offer fire support if needed be, and out of the way if they didn't need support.

It was then that a young man in a ruffled shirt walked right past the troop carriers and Kagami with barely a glance, holding a strange-looking sword in one hand and something else in the other. As Kagami thought to protest, the young man slapped one into the other, intoning a familiar word.

"Henshin."

Armor formed around the young man with the ruffled shirt, a set of armor that looked almost like the wearer was a liquid-powered robot, with all the tubes and the narrow visor. Kagami could only watch as the new host ignored the Shadow troopers around him and went straight after the Worms with his sword. Since Yaguruma-san was probably on the way to rejoin Shadow (for Kagami didn't believe that he'd be tossing Tendou about when Shadow needed him), ZECT sending this other host in made no sense. Unless he happened to just come across the scene and decided to take matters into his own hands.

Of course, that made sense. Supposedly, according to what Kagami had read, sometimes freelance hosts worked with ZECT units, sometimes they were on their own and just went after whatever they found or ran across. Some were eager to get into battle, some had to be forced or convinced, mostly by their Zecters. Obviously, the host that had just run into battle and was still ignoring the Shadow troopers in favor of beating up the Worms was definitely of the "eager to go into battle" type.

Kageyama-san seemed to realize that the armored host wasn't going to work with them, and quickly rearranged Shadow's attacks. As he was doing so, Kagami heard a motorcycle and was not surprised to see Yaguruma-san appear, in armor. He must have been battling Tendou, or preparing to battle Tendou, or even trying to intimidate Tendou, when the call came through that they were in battle. Or he changed right before coming on scene. He got off his ZECT-issued, color-coded motorcycle, the one that Kagami had used as well when he was TheBee Zecter's host, and walked towards the battle. He paused next to Kagami. "Find out who that is," he ordered Kagami, who rushed into the van to obey Yaguruma-san's command.

Pulling up a database request, Kagami hoped his access, either as Shadow's commander or former recruiter, hadn't been revoked, or otherwise restricted now that he was back to being Kagami Arata, Support Peon. Initially, the request didn't go though, but a box popped up requesting justification. Kagami sent the reason for the request with a picture of the mystery host and again requested information on him.

Headquarters seemed to think for an hour - Kagami was sure it was only a minute or two, but it seemed like an hour, before granting him access to the database, or at least the database record he'd requested.

Such as it was. "Kamishiro Tsurugi, Zecter: Sasword." The activation sequence required a specially-made sword, just as Drake Zecter's required its host to use a special grip, to which the Zecter attached. Other than Kamishiro Tsurugi's status (freelancer), general location, date of join, and brief details, there was not much in the file.

Kagami relayed the meager information to Yaguruma-san, who gave him a terse order to rejoin the fight, or at least go outside, just in case. Kagami wondered what would happen if Yaguruma-san died or got rejected again in the head of battle. Would the Zecter go to another Shadow member? Probably. It occured to Kagami that Kageyama, whose fighting style was nearly all punches, would be a good host for TheBee, which was worn on the wrist and whose attack was hand and arm, punch-based.

But he stepped outside anyway, because he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't. Orders were orders, and orders said that he had to be available in battle just in case something happened with Yaguruma-san and TheBee Zecter.

However, as he stepped out, the battle seemed nearly finished, with little or no casualties to ZECT. Sasword Zecter's host was bashing away at Worms, and Yaguruma-san was busy with the main one. As Kagami watched, Yaguruma took care of the main worm, a group of Shadow members took out one of the last remaining Worms, and Sasword almost simultaneously took care of the last one.

When it was all over, Yaguruma-san walked over to the new host, ordering Kagami to meet him. Kagami supposed this was because he was a former host, although Kamishiro Tsurugi had been a host for nearly a year, so he was hardly new and Yaguruma-san certainly didn't need Kagami's tiny amount of recruiting experience.

He trotted over to where Yaguruma-san was standing with Tsurugi Kamishiro. The two hosts had shifted out of armor and were looking at each other, Yaguruma-san in his impeccable suit and tie, Kamishiro Tsurugi in a cream jacket over a ruffled shirt and similarly cream pants. Kamishiro-san's outfit reminded Kagami somehow of some British television show that had been exported over for a brief time when he was a child, but he wasn't sure why.

"… My goal is to destroy all Worms. Your people are not needed," Kamishiro-san was telling Yaguruma-san haugutily, hefting his sword in emphasis.

"And my orders are to destroy Worms," Yaguruma-san countered. "Your single-minded devotion to your goal while ignoring everybody else's is disruptive."

"It doesn't matter. Your people are not needed, tell your Headquarters to keep yourselves out of danger while I do my job."

Kagami tried not to roll his eyes, and actually succeeded. "Look," he said, hoping Yaguruma-san didn't mind him speaking, "It's easier to defeat the Worm if we all work together."

"I work alone," the young man said proudly, walking off with his sword. Yaguruma-san didn't stop him, and Kagami felt that he should follow Yaguruma-san's lead. Past the ZECT area, an older man in a suit was waiting with a limousine, who bowed to Kamishiro Tsurugi. Kamishiro-san said something to the old man, smiling, as the old man came out of his bow long enough to open the limousine door.

As the older man, Kagami was guessing a butler or the like, which meant that Kamishiro-san had to be fairly well-off, closed the car door behind the young man and drove off, Kagami turned to Yaguruma-san. "What do we do about him?" he asked.

Yaguruma-san shrugged. "He'll be contacted by his liaison and cautioned. As long as he doesn't interrupt us again, he's not our concern."

Kagami nodded. Kamishiro Tsurugi was definitely a freelance host, more freelance than he could ever imagine someone being. This was the way that Kagami wanted Kazama Daisuke brought in… Though he guessed that Daisuke would be far more amenable to having ZECT backup than Kamishiro Tsurugi seemed to be.

"I've never worked with a freelance host," Kagami commented randomly, looking at the place where Kamishiro's butler had parked the limousine when Kamishiro-san came to fight.

"Most hosts think they want to be freelance," Yaguruma-san said. "But they're not really meant to be. They're meant to have support. The man who just left is one of the few that probably isn't meant to have a support unit."

"And Tendou Souji?" Kagami asked cautiously. He wanted to ask about Kazama Daisuke, but he didn't want to show too much interest in case Yaguruma-san thought he was interfering too much in ZECT high policy again.

"Is going to have bigger problems than whether or not he gets a support unit," Yaguruma-san said. He looked at Kagami, his voice lowered. "In the meantime, you are not his recruiter, you don't have to let him into your apartment."

Kagami nodded, but wondered how in the hell he was going to manage that.

"And in the meantime, once the paperwork's done, I'm going to finish having a 'word' with Tendou Souji," Yaguruma-san said.

Wondering where in the heck Yaguruma-san's sudden overprotective streak had come from, Kagami said, "You don't need to go through this trouble-"

"Tendou Souji is trying to destroy Shadow's Perfect Harmony," Yaguruma-san said. "He doesn't understand what it means, but he's trying to destroy it, and I must stop that."

Kagami decided it was better to let Yaguruma-san and Tendou battle it out and let Yaguruma-san lead him back to where the rest of Shadow was waiting, cleaning up and preparing to go back to base. Despite Tsurgi Kamishiro's sudden appearance and stubbornness, the soldiers seemed to have decided that they had been the ones to win the fight, they and Yaguruma-san. And of course they did, because they had worked together.

No, Kamishiro Tsurugi would never understand Shadow, and neither did Tendou. Kagami understood it all too well, was happy to leave it, prayed that in the off chance he was ever chosen by a Zecter again, it wouldn't be one with a unit attached to it. Maybe they, Kamishiro-san and Tendou, understood that the structure was dangerous, but they couldn't understand it in a way Kagami could.

And Yaguruma-san and the rest of Shadow didn't understand that danger either, because they considered it a strength.

But on the good side, Kagami didn't need to get Kamishiro Tsurugi to want to be freelance; the man was freelance to the point where Kagami wondered if he realized he'd signed up with ZECT at all. It was Kazama Daisuke he was more worried about, with Gon out there as a perfect hostage if ZECT couldn't offer him what he wanted. Kagami suspected the man only wanted to be left alone, though hopefully his recruiter could convince him that fighting Worms wouldn't interfere with his professional life.

And if the recruiter was smart, that was exactly what they'd offer Kazama Daisuke. Flexible, freelance hours, a manager, help with Gon if needed be. Kagami somehow doubted that Gon was the type where Kazama Daisuke would have problems with her, though Kagami had to wonder if the little girl ever got to go to school. Heck, ZECT might be willing to offer a tutor that could match Gon's obviously inquiring, intelligent mind.

If they thought to do that, they probably also realized that Gon was the ticket in the negotiation. Gon would convince Daisuke to go along if she thought that the ZECT would offer something that both of them could live with. Gon probably would appreciate having a tutor. Kagami made a note to himself to append that suggestion to Headquarters, though he realized maybe the ZECT recruiter had thought of it too.

He got into the van, feeling a little homesick as he thought of all the time that he'd spent in the van being support to Tadokoro-san, Misaki-san, and the unit of ZECT Troopers that they worked with. His life had definitely changed ever since Tendou Souji came into it.

When he got back to Shadow's base, he was still wishing that he was back with Tadokoro-san's unit. They weren't cohesive, or at least not as cohesive as Shadow, but they did well. That was a unit he wouldn't mind getting attached to as a host. Unfortunately, getting TheBee meant that he would have been put in Shadow regardless of what unit he was in, and he was sure any unfortunate civilian that fit TheBee's criteria would be invited along at once and recruited into Shadow. TheBee was Shadow and Shadow was TheBee. It was as simple as that.

Heck, if they could train him to do the leadership role - though that had mostly been Yaguruma-san quietly taking the training wheels off as they went along, they could probably train a random civilian off the street!

At least it was a learning experience. One that he didn't mind using at all, if it helped others. In the meantime, it was back to paperwork and hoping that eventually he'd not be needed anymore in Shadow.

"So, what'd you think of that guy?" Matsui said, coming up to him. "You know, the new host."

"He's not that new," Kagami said. "He is freelance. And weird. Does being a host do that to you?"

"Well, you and Yaguruma-san aren't too weird. I think," Matsui said jovially. "Maybe it's just the freelance folks. Don't have to deal with discipline."

"Or discipline doesn't have to deal with them," Kagami said, thinking of how likely some of the hosts he'd met acted. "Kazama Daisuke… I have a feeling if nobody interrupts his makeup career, he'd be glad to fight. On the other hand, this guy…."

"Yeah," Matsui said. "Fighting is good, teamwork while fighting is better." He paused. "Maybe if he worked with another host…."

Kagami nodded, as the idea hadn't really occurred to him. "Might take him a while."

"It'll take that host you were recruiting a lot longer," Matsui opined.

Making a face, Kagami said, "Don't remind me."

"Don't worry, he's out of your hair and ours," Matsui assured him.

"I hope so." Yaguruma-san's advice - or maybe orders - to stay away from Tendou and not let Tendou into his apartment came back to Kagami. What would Tendou do if Kagami refused? Hopefully go away. But if he didn't?

That was going to be one big mess, him against Tendou against Yaguruma-san. Well, not precisely all of them in one fight, but if Kagami was persuaded to let Tendou in and Yaguruma-san came in to object to it? It would get really messy, really fast.

"Well, I guess we've both got our reports to do," Matsui said, mock rolling his eyes. "When will the paperwork ever end?"

"Never," Kagami mumbled. They certainly did a lot of paperwork for an elite combat unit!

"Better get started then," Matsui said cheerfully and headed for the shared office where so many of the Shadow troopers wrote their reports. Kagami felt lucky that he had a office, a luxury by ZECT standards, by any standards, because of his former host status.

He wrote his report about the Worms and Yaguruma-san (leaving out the fact that Yaguruma-san had been gone because he went off to beat up Tendou just because) and Kamishiro Tsurugi. Not that there was a whole lot to say about the host, because he was quite comfortable ignoring the existence of anybody but himself and the Worms he was fighting.

Kagami had to wonder why Kamishiro-san was the way he was. Why he fought Worms so intensely, why he eschewed companionship to do so. Even Kagami, who had lost his little brother to the Worm knew that one needed support, coordination. Maybe not as intense as Shadow's, but still, a host with no support at all sometimes died if they underestimated their foes.

Which made him hope that, should another Zecter chose him (he hoped one wouldn't, but just in case), he'd be allowed to be with Tadokoro-san's unit and have them as backup.

He finished up his paperwork and went back to practice with those who had finished their reports, and tried not to get too beat up. Not that the members of Shadow would purposely beat him up, but he did get a bit bruised.

That night, tired, exercised out, and ready to go home and flop into bed, he ran across the one person he'd rather hoped he wouldn't see. "Tendou. Don't you have better things to do?" he asked, hoping to get Tendou out of his hair fast. ZECT would still notice Tendou going in, but with some luck, they'd also see him leaving in the evening instead of the morning. That way, Yaguruma-san wouldn't need to go off and try to harass Tendou.

Tendou just looked at him with that classic "are you really that dumb" Tendou look.

"I mean, you have a little sister. Sleep to get. Worms to destroy," Kagami pleaded.

"Grandmother said," Tendou replied, pointing to the sky, "That something that makes men one is not to be scorned, but welcomed."

"Yeah, well I noticed we were not 'making one' while I was TheBee's host. Explain that."

Kagami hoped he would get Tendou out of there before Yaguruma-san decided to show up, or at least move Kagami somewhere where Tendou couldn't visit him. He'd heard of such protective custody, and though he'd heard it was comfortable, he didn't want to expose why he'd been moved there, which would be an inevitable question from anybody he was serving with.

"Sometimes men must be separated to become stronger," Tendou intoned. "For if they do not become stronger, they do not win."

"Are you sure your grandmother had… what's going on between us… in mind when she said that? I mean, I don't think she'd be keen on what her grandson is doing with that saying," Kagami mentioned. He had a sneaking suspicion that Tendou was making a lot of them up. Either that, or Tendou's grandmother was as weird as he was. Which definitely wasn't out of the question.

"My grandmother was very wise," Tendou said, in an absolute tone. "And knew many things?"

"Like the fact that her grandson's gay?" Kagami couldn't resist asking.

Tendou shot him another Look and didn't dignify Kagami's answer with a reply.

"I'm not letting you in," Kagami said, proud of his sudden development of a backbone. "Yaguruma-san ordered me not to, and besides, don't you have somebody else you can sleep with? Like whoever's in charge of you currently?"

"Nobody is in charge of me," Tendou said calmly. "Those that have tried, I ignore."

"Good to know it's not just me then," Kagami mumbled.

Tendou just shot him another sharp look in response.

"Look, you have to work with your liaison, I'm not your liaison anymore, I'm a member of Shadow and a former host of TheBee."

Ignoring him, Tendou waited expectantly, as if determined to stare his way into Kagami's apartment.

"If Yaguruma-san sees this happening, I'll be moved to protective custody and you won't see me anymore," Kagami pleaded. "And my father will know I've been sleeping with a guy. And he won't speak to me anymore, and…." Well, losing contact with his father wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but Kagami wished Tendou would leave anyway.

"I will deal with Yaguruma," Tendou said, deliberately leaving the honorific off of Yaguruma-san's name. Kagami winced.

"Still not going to let you in, Tendou," Kagami said, trying to retrieve the backbone he'd had a few minutes ago. "I'm going to bed. Good night."

He managed to get the key in the door and get in before Tendou could, and locked the door. Tendou could sleep outside his apartment for all he cared, he just wanted peace and quiet. He thought he heard a sigh before he bolted towards his bedroom, the better to hide under the covers and pretend nothing was happening.

Tendou wasn't there the next morning, much to Kagami's relief. He probably had gone off to serve his little sister or read the paper or do whatever he did when he wasn't fighting Worms, avoiding his liaison, and driving Kagami nuts. Or maybe Yaguruma-san had found him and removed him, which wasn't good but if he'd done it, he'd done it quietly.

Kagami got up and got dressed, knowing that Yaguruma-san would probably know about Tendou's visit to Kagami's apartment. Of course, how Yaguruma-san would probably handle it depended on when Tendou had left Kagami's place. If he'd left early, there would be no problem, and if he didn't….

There would be hell to pay. Kagami's affair would be wide open, he'd be in protective custody unable to defend himself. The only think he could hope for was ZECT quietly discharging him.

He was out to Shadow's base of operations before he could really think about it, as concerned as he'd been by when, exactly, Tendou had left. He'd know by his teammates reactions if something had happened; he just hoped there would be no reactions.

"Hey, Kagami," Matsui said cheerfully, in way of greeting. "You're early."

"I guess I had a lot on my mind and just got on my way," Kagami responded.

"The usual, training, drills, and maybe if we're lucky, a surprise Worm attack," Matsui said cheerfully. "Maybe you'll get lucky and Yaguruma-san will have some paperwork for you."

Kagami shuddered. "I'll be changing."

But before he had a chance to walk into the locker room, Yaguruma-san appeared and beckoned to him. Kagami inwardly gulped, hoping that Tendou hadn't been outside his apartment for that long.

"I see you drove him off," was Yaguruma-san's comment once the door was closed.

Kagami nodded. "He just doesn't understand. And he thinks you're pressuring me away from him."

"I'm your unit commander and a host," Yaguruma-san said. "And head of Shadow. Nobody does this to my people."

Sitting down, Kagami said, "He's a lot like Kamishiro Tsurugi," he said, as the thought occurred to him. "Involved with his own life, can only see one thing. And instead of Worms, that's me."

Yaguruma-san nodded at that. "I'd rather take Kamishiro Tsurugi over Tendou Souji any day of the week. Which reminds me…."

Kagami watched as Yaguruma-san tapped at his computer. "Kamishiro's liaison thinks that Kamishiro might be able to accept a unit geared around him," Yaguruma-san said. "At least accept that they're there and let them do their job."

"He might?" Kagami asked, dumbfounded. "Really?"

"I don't know," Yaguruma-san said, "But they've asked for one or two members of Shadow to direct the new unit. You have some leadership experience and you have experience with difficult hosts, so I've recommended that you join the new squad."

Kagami was speechless.

After taking a moment to get his mind wrapped around the fact that Yaguruma-san was actually willing to send him to another unit, albeit a new one, Kagami wondered if Kamishiro Tsurugi really wanted a unit behind him or if his liaison was being overenthusiastic. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be in a unit with Kamishiro Tsurugi, or for that matter, supporting Kamishiro Tsurugi. On the other hand, Yaguruma-san indicated it would be a leadership role, or at least implied that, so Kagami decided that maybe it wasn't so bad.

On the other hand, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be handling any host at all. He suspected that Yaguruma-san wanted him away from Tendou Souji, and rather than leaving him where ZECT could put him back as Tendou's recruiter/liaison, he was opting to put Kagami somewhere where he had responsibility for a host - Kamishiro Tsurugi. That was more charitable than thinking that Yaguruma-san was using Kagami's presence in his unit, and Tendou's nighttime visits, to go beat up on Tendou. Well, try to beat up on Tendou; Kagami didn't know who was the better fighter of the two.

In any case, at least that would be ending soon, at least when Kagami was done being backup on the vague chance that TheBee Zecter wanted him back. He didn't doubt that he was one of its choices, would be one of its choices if Yaguruma-san missteped again, but otherwise he'd be just that: backup. Unneeded backup. He'd rather the Zecter went to Kageyama-san or someone else in Shadow, really.

Once he was out of Shadow, he doubted that TheBee Zecter would hunt him down again, though if that happened, he'd be right back in Shadow.

"I'm also reasonably sure that Kamishiro Tsurugi is heterosexual," Yaguruma-san said out of nowhere, confirming one of Kagami's suspicions. He wondered if Yaguruma-san hoped that Kamishiro-san would take Tendou's actions towards Kagami as offensive as Yaguruma-san did. Probably. Kagami wondered if Yaguruma-san would feel the need to step in and try to get Kagami back if he thought that Kamishiro-san wasn't protecting Kagami against Tendou.

Kagami hoped Yaguruma-san didn't have to step in, for he really didn't want to be in Shadow again if he could help it.

"I understand," Kagami said carefully. "Yaguruma-san?"

"Yes?" Yaguruma-san said, without looking up.

"You won't tell anyone... about what's going on?" Kagami asked. No matter how Yaguruma-san felt about Tendou's nightly visits, Kagami still didn't want to be kicked out of ZECT for sleeping with a guy.

"I promised you I wouldn't," Yaguruma-san said. "Now, go. And remember, don't let him in."

Kagami didn't have to ask which "he" Yaguruma-san meant.

Yaguruma-san dismissed him with a look, and he went back.

"Nothing too bad, I hope," Matsui said, with a sympathetic look.

Shaking his head, Kagami answered, "Not really. More about Kamishiro Tsurugi, that's all."

"Just as long as it's not about you-know-who," Matsui said. "I hear if he interferes with Shadow's operations or personnel one more time, host or no, Yaguruma-san's going to tear him a new one."

Matsui had no idea to what extent Yaguruma-san was willing to take that to. "Yeah," Kagami said quietly.

Slapping him on the back, Matsui said, "You'd better go change."

The days passed fairly uneventfully after that. Shadow kept in practice and performed various duties, Kagami stayed visible as possible backup just in case TheBee Zecter decided that Yaguruma-san wasn't a good host again. Tendou visited, though Kagami had yet to let the other man in - maybe after he was out of Shadow and Yaguruma-san wasn't inclined to use Kagami as an excuse to fight Tendou.

Maybe someday Kagami could have a decent talk with Tendou without the threat of Worms, imminent host status, or anything else stopping them from talking about what Kagami needed to talk about. Of course, he wasn't sure of what that was, but why Tendou liked sleeping with him would be one of those questions that badly needed answering. And where Tendou's grandmother was so that she could talk to her very odd grandson was another.

And soon, though not as quickly as Kagami wished, a month passed. But Yaguruma-san said nothing, and Kagami hoped that he'd be moved somewhere, and soon. Even though he'd miss Shadow, he had to move on.

He'd heard nothing about the unit supporting Kamishiro Tsurugi - he presumed either the liaison had discovered how overenthusiastic they'd been and scrapped the idea, or that Headquarters thought that Kagami wouldn't fit in the unit. Which was fine by him as well, because that increased the chances he'd be put back with Tadokoro-san.

One afternoon, he was summoned into Yaguruma-san's office. Yaguruma-san looked grim, much as Tadokoro-san did when there were personnel decisions handed down from headquarters that he didn't like. Kagami had a sneaking suspicion that this was the same thing; Yaguruma-san had been told something he didn't like very much, either.

"Yaguruma-san?" he asked tentatively. "What's going on?"

"I've been told to stop interfering with Tendou Souji," Yaguruma-san said grimly. "And to rescind my order about not letting Tendou Souji visit you at night."

"Eh?" Kagami asked, confused. Why would Headquarters order Yaguruma-san to stop interfering, especially if they knew that Tendou Souji was having an affair with his former, male recruiter? He'd have thought that Headquarters would have wanted both himself and Tendou to keep away from each other. Unless they thought that Tendou just slept at his apartment, which made more sense. He could possibly live with Headquarters thinking that their relationship was that innocuous.

"Be careful, let me know if he becomes abusive, and I'm going to get you out of this," Yaguruma-san said. "Even if I have to resist orders to reassign you out of Shadow."

"I understand, Yaguruma-san," Kagami said. "I'll be careful."

There was nothing more he could promise.

"You're also not being assigned to Kamishiro Tsurugi's support unit," Yaguruma-san continued. "Once you're done here, I'm told you'll be transferring back to Tadokoro-san's." Kagami had a sinking feeling from Yaguruma-san's expression that Tadokoro-san would be told at least a little bit about the problems with Tendou Souji, which meant that Tadokoro-san would know that Kagami slept with guys, and he'd be out of Tadokoro-san's unit as fast as Tadokoro-san could boot him out. Even if he accepted it, others wouldn't.

Maybe Kagami did want to stay in Shadow, after all. Actually, he really didn't, but he might not have a choice.

The important thing was not to show his feelings, not to show how relieved that he was getting out of Shadow, away from TheBee, away from Yaguruma-san and his desires to use Kagami as ammunition against Tendou.

"I'll make sure the paperwork's in order," Yaguruma-san said, before dismissing Kagami.

Kagami headed back to practice, though more distracted than anything else. Once he was free of Shadow, then maybe his career would be over - and he certainly wouldn't regret it. He slipped back into practice gear. He could have dealt with Kamishiro Tsurugi a bit more, but he'd live.

Yes, he'd definitely live.


	7. Mandibles

**Chapter 7: Mandibles**

Kagami's transfer back to Tadokoro-san's unit was quiet, definitely not in any way dramatic at all. He knew that Yaguruma-san would have preferred one more chance at Tendou, but ZECT directives prevented him from doing so.

Not that Tendou had given Yaguruma-san a reason to. Kagami had half-expected him to show up the night of his final day with Shadow, but as if not wanting to rock the boat, Tendou hadn't visited. Kagami would have liked to know why ZECT didn't want Yaguruma-san to interfere with Tendou's night time visits, since that also implied that they knew precisely what Tendou was doing each night - or what he could be doing each night, at least.

As far as Kagami knew, Tendou wasn't in ZECT, so he wasn't some kind of reward for joining ZECT. He really doubted that he'd do any better than Tendou's current liason for bringing Tendou in, so it couldn't be that. So he was left with absolutely no clue as to why ZECT didn't want interference with Tendou's night time visits.

Kagami resigned himself to not figuring it out, and instead worked on reintegrating himself into Tadokoro-san's much smaller unit. Sure, they weren't as close as Shadow was, which could work in his favor.

He felt a wave of nostalgia as he stepped inside Tadokoro-san's van. Tadokoro-san greeted him with a brief nod; Misaki-san was too busy checking some readings but Kagami was sure she'd say hello as soon a she got a chance.

Stepping back into his old job, he felt a sense of relief. Yes, he was back to being a low-ranked flunky, but that wasn't such a bad thing.

After a while, Tadokoro-san had them break for lunch, and Misaki-san had jogged off, having seen a stand carrying her favorite food. Kagami sat down in the van, still reveling in the fact that he was no longer in Shadow. Of course, the pressing question - well, questions - weighed down in his mind.

"Tadokoro-san," he said, "Did Yaguruma-san say... well, anything... when I was transfered back?" he asked. He knew it might be a bit presumptive, but he did intend to bring up going back to part time, as well as his relationship, or lack thereof, with Tendou Souji. Well, maybe not Tendou, though he really wanted to know why ZECT had suddenly approved of Tendou's late night visits. However, he doubted Tadokoro-san knew either.

"I know... certain things," Tadokoro-san said. He looked at Kagami, as if unsure of what to say or even how to say it. "About Tendou Souji."

"Then you probably know that he's been staying some nights at my place." That was safe. Tendou was being observed, and Kagami had been his liaison. No need to admit what some probably assumed.

He dared look up at Tadokoro-san's face, but it betrayed nothing, certainly not the revulsion the other man was probably feeling if he'd put two and two together. Tadokoro-san merely nodded, adding after a moment, "Yaguruma told me."

Kagami nodded. It was now or never, if he intended to be free of ZECT he had to confess this where nobody else could see but Tadokoro-san could act. "If you've guessed why he's there... it's true."

"I... see." Tadokoro-san's face was still that mask that Kagami couldn't see behind. It was as if none of this was news to Tadokoro-san, or if it was, he hid it well.

"Does Tendou have a liaison?" Kagami asked. He wondered, once more, who it was and if they'd guessed as well.

"For the moment, yes," Tadokoro-san said. His face got the expression of something he didn't like once more, and Kagami suddenly could guess what that something was. "For the moment."

Kagami took a deep breath. "And after?"

Tadokoro-san looked away. Seemed to take his own deep breath. "He seems to react the best to you."

In other words, Kagami would be Tendou's liaison again. At least it wouldn't be so bad; Tendou's visits would not seem so strange. Kagami had to wonder if Tendou had arranged it. Maybe. Probably.

"I'll be away tomorrow," Tadokoro-san said, as if to change the subject. "They're testing a new Zecter, seeing if they can find a host." He took another deep breath. "They wanted you, but you weren't either Shadow or in this unit then."

Kagami nodded. Maybe Yaguruma-san had told Tadokoro-san something useful after all. He didn't want a Zecter. He could be a host, but he didn't want to. Not after TheBee. Not after Shadow.

Maybe being transfered was a good thing.

"Kagami," Tadokoro-san said suddenly, "Be careful."

"Eh?" Kagami asked, feeling the warning was coming out of the blue.

"Something about this Zecter test..." Tadokoro-san said, looking sightlessly at the display.

Tadokoro-san didn't want him to have a Zecter, apparently. Kagami had to wonder if he'd stopped Kagami from testing as a host before. Of course, if someone at HQ had wanted Kagami to test for a Zecter, no amount of intervention from Tadokoro-san would work.

Which indicated that the reason it hadn't been so urgent for him to test this new Zecter; maybe his name had only come up because he was TheBee's former host. The fact that he'd tried to reject his Zecter really didn't seem to matter.

He was glad of that, because he was still thinking of leaving ZECT, and that would be impossible to do if another Zecter chose him. Maybe it was best to leave ZECT now, before he could be ordered at any point.

"Tadokoro-san," he said, hoping that said decision wouldn't shock his supervisor, "I'll be leaving ZECT."

Tadokoro-san just looked at him for a moment. "If that's what you want." Kagami was surprised and relieved that his superior wasn't questioning his decision. Things would be much easier if he didn't have to fight Tadokoro-san on this as well as his father.

He wondered, absently, if he'd be stuffed back into Shadow for Yaguruma-san to keep an eye on. Something told him that Yaguruma-san wouldn't be as keen on him quitting as Tadokoro-san was. Well, Tadokoro-san wasn't *keen* on him leaving, but he wasn't arguing.

Tadokoro-san had never argued with him. Occasionally encouraged him to join ZECT full-time, but never pressured him. Tadokoro-san was a good supervisor.

"I'll give you my resignation the day after tomorrow," he added, still testing a little bit, making sure Tadokoro-san was still with him.

"Kagami..." Tadokoro-san said. He was about to say more, but closed his mouth. Kagami stayed still, waiting for an objection, not that it was going to stop him. But it was Tadokoro-san, he'd listen. "Zecters sometimes choose civilians."

Why Tadokoro-san had felt the need to tell him that, he didn't know. After all, he was the sometime liason to Tendou Souji, who was definitely a civilian. But he nodded. "I know."

"Be careful," Tadokoro-san said. "And listen to your heart."

Kagami raised his eyebrows at Tadokoro-san's advice. Tadokoro-san turned, seeming lost in his own thoughts, or at least his own internal debate. Kagami was never sure what Tadokoro-san was thinking of, but he was pretty sure that it was not overly outlandish. Tadokoro-san was a very orderly person.

Tadokoro-san was a great - well, at least good - boss to be working under. He, Kagami, and Misaki-san made a good team.

It would be a shame to leave them, but he was tired of ZECT outside this team and maybe a bit of Shadow. Takemiya-san would surely give him his job back. He'd be able to find a job somewhere else.

It was not until later on that day he started to wonder. Tadokoro-san had kept him busy, pretty much not given him time to think. Kagami wondered if Tadokoro-san really did support Kagami's decision to leave ZECT. He certainly wasn't making a fuss about it.

He had to wonder, though, about what Tadokoro-san had said about the Zecter. He had to know that Kagami knew that Zecters chose civilians. Kagami had tried to recruit in Tendou Souji, after all, and he'd written advice on Kazama Daisuke. And it wasn't like ZECT could force a Zecter to choose a particular person, could it? As far as he knew, if ZECT or the Native Worms could force someone to be host to a Zecter, there wouldn't be need for guesswork and trials; they'd just bring the person and let the Zecter bond with them. There would be no waiting for the Zecter to choose a person.

Unless the Natives knew how and just didn't, because they believed the Zecters' choice as sacred. Which they probably proved when Kagami tried to abandon the Zecter, even though he hadn't seen any Natives trying to dissuade him. Unless Yaguruma-san was really a Native. Which made about as much sense as Tadokoro-san being one. Tadokoro-san had mentioned more than once that he had a brother - in fact, they'd once been to his brother's shop. Which didn't prove that Tadokoro-san wasn't a Native, but it made it rather unlikely. Besides, why would the Natives allow or send one of their own for a Zecter test when he'd never get chosen? Therefore, Tadokoro-san couldn't be a native.

And he wasn't going to be in danger of being a host to this new Zecter, because ZECT would surely find it a host in ZECT, and even if they didn't, he really didn't think it would choose him. After all, there were plenty of people in Tokyo to choose from.

He wondered if Tendou would show up anymore after he left ZECT. Maybe, maybe not. Who knew with Tendou? But a Kagami that was job-hunting and serving tables instead of a ZECT flunky was probably not all that exciting. Tendou had disappeared out of his life when he'd been the host to TheBee Zecter, wouldn't it follow that he'd also disappear out if Kagami had nothing to do with that world anymore?

With luck, the only ZECT person that would affect his life would be his father, who would no doubt be disappointed to find that Kagami had chosen a life outside ZECT.

Of course, Kagami realized, there would always be the doctors. ZECT doctors. He was a host long enough for his physiology to change, so he was stuck with ZECT doctors for the rest of his life. And he intended to live a full, long life, and since he was not going to be in ZECT anymore, he'd just have to be part Worm, or whatever he was now.

Had he remembered to warn Tendou about the part-Worm thing? He wasn't sure he had, not wanting to upset his sometime... lover, since that was the nearest term Kagami could think of for the other man. Most hosts really probably didn't know, or they wouldn't stay recruited. He wondered if Yaguruma-san did. Yaguruma-san probably was closer to being a Native Worm than the rest of them. He probably knew that, too, but he was loyal to ZECT in ways that Kagami couldn't seem to be.

Kagami resolved to tell Tendou the next time Tendou showed up at his doorstep, and put the pondering resolutely out of his head. He had things to tie up and he only had slightly over a day to do them before he left ZECT. For good.

After he told Tendou, or actually, before he told Tendou, he might want to pay a visit to the ZECT doctor and ask what had changed when he'd become a host, and what would have changed, for Tendou's sake. Tendou had been a host longer than Kagami had, and he felt the need to mention what was going on.

But that would be after he left ZECT, if he could manage it. Better not to be in trouble with Tadokoro-san's bosses.

In the meantime, he had things to do, people to ask for jobs, and things like that.

He paid a visit to Takemiya-san at the Bistro La Salle. She was surprised, but was more than happy to give him his part-time job back, if he wanted. Feeling secure that he'd have something that helped pay the rent, he went home.

Tendou was not waiting for him when he got home, nor did he show up later, which was fine with Kagami.

The next day, his next-to-last day (or last day, depending on how easy it was to give his resignation, tie everything up, and go on his way the day after it) dawned bright and early. He got into his suit, glad that he would not be doing it much longer.

He met Misaki-san at the van; Tadokoro-san was out, seeing if he was compatible with ZECT's newest Zecter, and Kagami hoped that he'd join them later. Or the next day, long enough for Kagami to resign.

The two of them ended up outside a closed plant; a Worm nest, an Alien Worm nest, she told him when he got curious. They were to watch the entrance, make sure nothing happened before other teams got there, including Shadow, to blow the place up.

In a way, Kagami was grateful for such a quiet, boring last day. It was strange to think that maybe before he'd have jumped into action, but that was before that had landed him a bond with TheBee Zecter.

Well, that Kagami was no more. In his place was someone older, wiser, less stupid.

He registered absently that Misaki-san was on the phone. "What do you mean, Tadokoro-san's been hospitalized?" she demanded into her cell.

"What's going on?" Kagami asked as she hung up.

"I'll tell you later, just keep watch on that factory and don't go in," she said, hurrying into the van's driver's seat. Kagami watched her peel off, shaking his head.

It seemed to be a good thing that he hadn't been in the host trials for this newest Zecter. He'd never heard of a Zecter *violently* rejecting its host, but there was a first time for everything.

Kagami shuddered, but realized with relief that if the Zecter was that violent, they'd never let it out into the general population as they had the others. It would be ZECT members only until they found it an acceptable partner.

And he wouldn't be a ZECT member by the time they tried to get him again. Though maybe they'd try because he was ex-ZECT. But then again, if he was a civilian, he could refuse them.

"Help me!"

Kagami turned at the call, to see a man being chased by the Alien Worm. Remembering not to go inside, he drew his gun and shot at the Worm. He should be pretty safe - the gates were locked and by the time the Worm tried scaling them to get at him, he had time to run.

The man was at the gates now. "Save me! Get me out of here!"

Aware that if this was a Worm Nest, this was no doubt a Worm ploy to get him to leave his post, he shot at the Worm menacing the man, but didn't unlock the gate - besides, he had no key to do so, so if the man or Worm was expecting him to get him out, the man was in big trouble. If it was a man.

"How do I know you're not a Worm?" he asked.

The man's look of horror was not out of place. He was either a human, a human's memories manifesting temporary control over a Worm, or a Worm doing a good acting job.

"My son! He's in danger! If you won't save me, save him!" The man ran off, the Worm still chasing him.

"That... was strange," Kagami said. But he had to wonder... even if the man *was* a Worm, that had seemed like a genuine emotion. Kagami was inclined to believe that he'd seen the memory of a human temporarily manifested.

He wondered if the man's son was still human, or if the Worm had gotten to him too.

It was evident that the Worm were about the place; if the man's son had found some way to stay safe, then Kagami had to do something about it. He looked again at the fleeing man, tried to convince himself that it was dangerous, and then looked again at the gate.

Well, if he got killed fighting the Worm, at least he didn't have to worry about Zecters that put people in the hospital, did he?

He jumped the fence, hoping to make a quick run in before anybody got there to blow things up. His gun at the ready, he stealthily ran into the plant.

At first, there was nothing. Nobody there, just machinery. Kagami went slowly, hoping to catch a glance of the boy before he had to head out again.

A hiss alerted him that he was not alone.

Two packs of Worm were converging on him. He'd been seen, they knew where he was, he was surrounded. They had just been waiting for him to come in. Foolish move on his part.

"In here!"

Kagami turned around to see a small, boyish face peering out of a series of tubes. A series of tubes small enough that a human, but not a Worm, could have gotten through. The boy made a motion and withdrew, and Kagami hurried in.

At least if it was a Worm, it couldn't change in the tight quarters, and if the boy was still human, Kagami had to save him.

"Thanks," he said simply.

"Come on," the boy said, "I know somewhere where the monsters can't go."

Kagami paused, wondering if the boy knew that they could just assume human form and go that way. Or maybe the boy was a much better crawler than the average Worm.

"Come on!" the boy said impatiently. Kagami decided to go for the second. They crawled down tubes and under pipes. Kagami didn't see a single Worm, which was a good thing, but the place was supposed to be a Worm nest. So, where were the Worm?

They finally emerged into a small room, maybe forgotten by its creators, and probably not known to the Worm, if the boy wasn't a Worm. If he was a Worm, Kagami was dead, was sure to be replicated, and Misaki-san would be really pissed off at his corpse.

"Do you have any food?" the boy asked.

Kagami checked his pockets, finding he only had a few spare pieces of candy. "I'm Kagami," he said while handing the candy to the boy. "What's your name?"

"I'm Makoto," the boy said with confidence. "I found this place when I was running from the monsters."

"The Worm," Kagami said. "How long have you been down here?"

Makoto shook his head. "I don't know," he said, "But I'm glad there's another human down here. You *are* human, right?"

Alarm bells ran through Kagami's head. If Makoto knew the monsters could change into human shape, he should be more alarmed. But he wasn't. Was that the bravado of a child, or the knowledge of a Worm. "I think so." He paused. "Your Dad wanted me to get you out of here." He didn't mention Dad was most likely a Worm at that point, not wanting to alarm Makoto just in case he did turn out to be a rather clever human boy and not leading Kagami into a trap.

Makoto ate one of the candies. "Sometimes I can sneak out. Sometimes there's food. I like going out at night; I think maybe I'll see a moonbow."

"A what?" Kagami asked, not quite following the narrative.

"A moonbow." Makoto looked at Kagami as if he was crazy. "When you get light reflected off the moon instead of the sun. A rainbow made from the moonlight." He held up a telescope.

"Look," Kagami said, "We need to get out of here. You need to be safe. You can be in a place where you're not starving and ducking monsters."

"Really?" Makoto asked, a smile forming on his small face.

Kagami nodded. "Can you show me the way out of here?"

And so Makoto did, back to an area near the one where Makoto had rescued Kagami. Kagami led him out of the tunnel, aware that it was harder to be sneaky when one had a civilian to take care of, even if it was a civilian who had taken care of himself for an unknown amount of time.

Presuming he wasn't a Worm, of course. And presuming Headquarters didn't think blowing up one human boy along with the Worm Nest was a small price to pay, and sending him back just in case. He could see them doing that, if they weren't sure.

He heard a thump, and a small cry from Makoto. Makoto had insisted on bringing his telescope along; now he had dropped it, and was frantically trying to reach it. In the meantime, Kagami heard the telltale hiss of the Worm closing in on them. "Makoto, run!"

"Not without my telescope!"

Makoto seemed determined, and Kagami couldn't fight with his hands full of uncooperative boy. "Hide, then."

Nodding, Makoto scurried inside a nearby handy tube cage, one that would keep him safe for the moment. Kagami left him there, knowing that it was the best he could do. "I'll come back for you," he called as he shot at the Worm surrounding him.

Makoto frantically nodded as he got further back, away from the reach of the Worm. Kagami fought his way through them, disabling when he could, or just getting free. He couldn't be Worm food, not now.

Finally pushing his way through hordes of Worm, Kagami emerged in the warehouse. He ran, spotting a forklift. It could have enough power to push the gates out of the way, allowing him to escape.

He got in and drove it, mauling a few Worms in the process. But there was someone up ahead...

Kagami shivered as a duplicate of him smiled up at him. He swore, running into his doppelganger with the forklift and flinging him away, before smashing through with forklift. He then drove the forklift through, before trying to salvage the gates. He was still trying to do so when Shadow, the first of the teams, arrived.

Shivering once again, he prepared to explain what had happened.

It was somehow not surprising to him that Yaguruma-san had not believed that Makoto was human; he still had doubts himself. But if there was a human boy, he had to be saved before Shadow blew up the place, Of course, Yaguruma-san disagreed, and he knew better than to argue with the head of Shadow and his former commander.

Besides, he was still shaken by his doppelganger. He wondered when they'd gotten his DNA and his memories; was this from a Worm that had known the Worm emulating Ryo? Or had they been picked up while he was sneaking about with Makoto somehow?

In any case, he'd told Yaguruma-san about that too, for safety's sake. He knew he'd be taken to the hospital to make sure he was the right Kagami, with a bunch of troopers pointing guns at him. But if he could convince them that he was human, then maybe they'd give Makoto a chance to be rescued and prove his humanity too.

And once he was through proving that he was who he said he was, maybe he'd go see Tadokoro-san, if they ended up at the same hospital. He seemed to remember that he had the same doctor as Tadokoro-san, so maybe he'd end up at the same hospital too.

At least he'd be in the hospital when Misaki-san tried to kill him for being so stupid.

Soon, a group of troopers bundled him into a troop carrier, guns pointed at him as expected. He didn't complain at all about this treatment, given that he'd practically volunteered for it.

Once at the hospital, he'd been given over to a ZECT doctor, two troopers with him all the while. He recognized both of them, since they were Shadow and he'd been Shadow. The doctor went off to wherever doctors went with tests, hopefully proving that Kagami was human and who he said he was. Kagami wasn't too worried - or at least wasn't too worried about having guns pointed at him - because he was who he said he was and the tests should prove it.

Eventually, the doctor agreed that he was Kagami Arata - much to the relief of the Shadow troopers, it seemed - and let him go. At least Shadow was the group that had showed up; he was familiar with them and they were familiar with him. And they were able to tell him that the destruction of that Worm-infested factory had been delayed. Which was good.

Misaki-san was probably rather pissed off, however, and it was probably best to get her reaming over with. He inquired at the desk and found Tadokoro-san's room, where Misaki-san was talking softly to Tadokoro-san. He entered the room quietly, intending not to startle them, when he saw Tadokoro-san turn his way. Misaki-san did the same as she noticed his presence. "What happened?" she asked, her expression hovering somewhere between concern and annoyance; Tadokoro-san's expression was only of concern.

"I, um... went in." That was not the way he'd intended to make his report. "There's this boy. I don't think he's a Worm, and he's in there."

Misaki-san looked annoyed. "You were given an order to..."

"Not go in," Kagami said, finishing her sentence. "I had to. And you should know... there's a duplicate of me in there."

"All the more reason that we should blow up the place at once," Misaki-san argued.

Kagami sighed inwardly. He understood Misaki-san's point, and for all he knew, the place had been blown up. Probably was, making this argument moot. If Makoto had been human, he was no doubt a very dead human at this point. "I know."

Misaki-san did sigh, but said nothing. Tadokoro-san had said nothing during the whole short discussion, leaving Kagami wondering how he felt about all this, but he probably had drugs in his system or something like that where he was barely following the conversation.

But if Misaki-san was wrong, and Makoto was human, and Shadow hadn't blown the place up... no, too many 'if's in that sentence. If they for some reason delayed the destruction of the Worm-infested factory, then he'd go back and rescue Makoto, bring him in for examination. If not, he's grieve for the boy, just as he'd grieve somewhat for the boy if he turned out to be a Worm. After all, if Makoto was a worm, somewhere in there was the memories of a boy that had wanted to see a moonbow.

There was nothing to be done about it, however, until they heard either way. And even then, he might not hear it unless Misaki-san decided he should be told, or maybe if someone in Shadow felt generous.

In other words, he might never know. He should be used to that, but at the moment, it frustrated him, if only because he didn't know. Maybe he was losing his tolerance for ZECT's secrets.

Maybe it was a good thing he was leaving ZECT as soon as possible, just because of the secrets. It would be easier to go along with life knowing that the secrets would be handled by someone else, or not knowing that there were secrets in the first place. Of course, he'd know there were secrets, but they wouldn't be his job anymore.

He felt awkward handing in his resignation to Tadokoro-san when Tadokoro-san was in the hospital. Maybe he'd wait until the man was out of the place before handing in his resignation. After all, Tadokoro-san was less likely to argue than Misaki-san, and Kagami felt that giving it to Tadokoro-san's superior was cheap, especially since Tadokoro-san had been a good boss.

So deciding that waiting would be a good thing, he left Tadokoro-san's hospital room, nodding to the two troopers stationed outside.

And then he stopped. A man was standing there, a squadron of troopers at his side. "Kagami Arata?"

"That's me," Kagami said. He wondered if he was going to have to prove himself again, have to prove that he was who he said he was and not a Worm. It was not how he had been planning to spend his afternoon.

Or maybe they wanted the real Kagami Arata isolated until they found his duplicate. That made sense, if they weren't sure that they'd destroyed the duplicate. Heck, the duplicate him probably knew they were planning to blow up the factory, unless he'd picked up Kagami's imprint from the Ryo duplicate.

So, in other words, he was probably going to be in some ZECT-ordered mandatory isolation until they were very very sure he was him. And that there was no other him. The man looked vaguely familiar - Kagami thought for a moment and finally recognized him as his father's secretary. He vhad to wonder at that, because the higher-ups usually didn't get involved in something routine like a ZECT employee being mimicked.

The troopers were surrounding the both of them now. Kagami didn't recognize the uniforms; were they part of some secret ZECT unit, even more elite than Shadow?

He was bundled out into a troop carrier, his father's secretary splitting company to ride in a limousine. Kagami would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious; he'd ridden in troop carriers before, which was probably more than could be said for his father's secretary.

It was only a few minutes to their destination, but Kagami was blindfolded before he was let out of the troop carrier, and then manhandled through a building for a few minutes before someone took the blindfold off.

He was in some sort of warehouse-type building, from the looks of it. There was a well-dented metal box in the middle of it. As they rounded the corner of the box, Kagami could see two ZECT troopers seated at a table with a PC. Sitting next to the table was a safe on a pedestal, open to reveal the item within.

It was a belt, just like Tendou's; one meant to lock a Zecter into.

Kagami froze. There was only one Zecter that he knew of that ZECT was currently looking for a host for, and that was the Zecter that had put Tadokoro-san in the hospital.

"It's waiting for you," his father's secretary said simply. "Gatack Zecter." He paused. "You are its chosen one."

Kagami felt a chill. Had they said the same words to Tadokoro-san? They probably had. But Kagami knew what it had done to Tadokoro-san. He was not going into a box with a violent Zecter willingly.

He really should have resigned from ZECT the day before. Now he was faced with confronting a Zecter that didn't want a host, and he wasn't sure that he could break out of there or decline.

As he stepped back, he could hear the click of guns being raised and locked. He took a breath and wondered if he'd make it to the door he'd come in. Refusal wasn't an option, apparently.

Someone's phone chimed, causing Kagami to jump a little. The secretary dug it out of his pocket. "Yes. You heard it correctly, we're holding the factory operation until we have Gatack's host." He paused. "I know. Goodbye."

Closing the phone, his father's secretary looked at him. Kagami wondered if he knew about Makoto; in any case, he seemed certain that Gatack would bond to Kagami.

Which, given the Zecter's previous behavior, seemed outrageous. But at least it was a reprieve for Makoto; he just hoped he'd make it out of the hospital before they found a host for Gatack. It of course depended on how violent Gatack got, but he had to take that chance.

He stepped forward, casting a sour glance on his father's secretary before nodding. The troopers seemed to relax; guns were lowered, and one trooper came forward with armor. Standard, generic armor, but still, armor. He put it on, grateful for its presence. If he could keep Gatack Zecter from hitting anything real vulnerable, he could get back to the factory and rescue Makoto before Gatack's new host could get there. And, given the violence of said Zecter, that might be a while.

Once the armor was on, a trooper fitted the belt around his waist. It adjusted easily, and when the trooper was satisfied, he stepped back. Kagami stepped forward, deciding he was insane, but that he'd do this anyway. For Makoto, or at least for the chance that Makoto was still human.

The doors swung open, displaying the thickness of the walls. Suddenly aware of how thick the walls were, Kagami tried his best not to gulp. Gatack had dented the walls, and Kagami could only hope that it wouldn't do the same to him.

Wherever Gatack was. He didn't immediately see the Zecter; he hoped it hadn't flown out. But as the doors close, he saw a small object arise. Gatack Zecter. It raised itself to his eye level, and if it had been given eyes, it surely would have been staring at him.

He got a good look at the Zecter. It was a shade of blue, slightly on the dark side. A pair of mandibles clicked together as it appraised him, as if it was planning to have him for lunch. Six feet served as lifters; he could see small flames eminating from them.

It didn't look very happy to see him. Kagami couldn't feel it like he could feel TheBee when he was its host, but he could have sworn that it was displeased. Maybe it was in the Zecter's movements, the way that it seemed ready to chew him up and then spew him out in pieces. For a little thing, it had done quite a bit of damage, from what he could see.

He wasn't going to claim it, so he just let it be the aggressor. The Zecter came up to him, darting around him as if it was a dog wanting to check him out. He wondered how long it would take for it to attack, and if it was looking for vulnerable points. But then again, it should know what was vulnerable. Surely it had been given dozens of potential hosts?

But it just hovered around, as if not sure what to make of him. Kagami wondered if it was going to choose him without much fuss, and wondered why he'd had the bright idea of coming in to the box instead of something infinitely safer, like getting the hell out of the room when he'd seen the belt.

It drew back, seeming to make a decision. And then it rushed at him.

And he'd lowered what defenses he'd had, to boot. It struck him in the chest, over and over, as if wanting to poke a hole into his chest and tear his heart out. Or something like that. He realized it was actually above his heart area, repeatedly striking there.

He didn't defend himself, knowing the sooner it knocked him into the hospital, the better.

It dove down, and Kagami thought for a moment it was going to dock itself into the belt. It hesitated, as if it had half a mind to do so, but then it struck at the bottom of the armor vest, as if trying to get under it and strike at his chest. He wondered if it was going to try to tear out his heart, after all.

Or at least eat the armor, which it seemed perfectly capable of doing as well.

The Zecter struck at the armor, battering at its edges. Then it drew away, ramming up between his legs. He crumpled in pain, screaming, but relieved that it hadn't rammed hard enough to disembowel him, while it continued hammering away at the armor.

It eventually gave up trying to maul the armor and instead started battering his arm - his left one - almost hard enough to shatter the bones, but it seemed to be restraining itself. Not that it was any less painful, but Kagami wished he knew what was going through its mind. Had it done this to Tadokoro-san?

His crotch hurt, his arm hurt, and even with the hits absorbed by the armor, his chest was starting to hurt. The Zecter was considerate enough to stop battering at his arm after a while, and instead turned its attentions to his head, as if to knock the answers out of him by sheer force.

One blow after another was making Kagami dizzy. Even if the Zecter was pulling its punches, it still hurt and Kagami wanted it over. He couldn't help Makoto if he had a concussion, couldn't get the boy out of there, couldn't think over the pounding of his head...

A last blow and the room turned grey then black, and Kagami swore he heard a voice in his head as he felt himself slump over. *Host? Not Host? Host? Not Host?*

Kagami woke up with a huge headache, an I.V., and no idea how long it had been or what had happened before he'd woken up. No, wait. There had been random flashes, vague memories.

"And Shinoda Aya goes on to win the 100 meter... Calabee potato chips... he suffered a concussion, broken ribs and bruises all over his body... I am Superman..."

There was tight wrapping around his ribs, where Gattack had butted him, and he no doubt had a concussion as well, not to mention all over where Gattack had hit him. Maybe he was lucky to be alive. Probably was lucky to be alive.

"How do you feel, Kagami-kun?" Misaki-san asked. He focused upon her, though it took an effort, as if it hurt to move anything. Maybe the doctors would give him more pain meds.

"Sore," he admitted. "What happened?"

"All we know is that you were in isolation for a while, and then they brought you here," Misaki-san said. "What happened, Kagami-kun?"

"They..." He probably wasn't supposed to talk about it. "I met ZECT's new Zecter." It occured to him that he was in the ZECT portion of the hospital anyway, due to the nature and cause of his injuries.

The squeak of a wheelchair interrupted his thoughts. "Gatack," Tadokoro-san said, still looking the worse for wear, also a victim of the Zecter. Tadokoro-san's expression was unreadable. "So it didn't choose you either."

Kagami thought of the voice in his head, the confused voice. Had it been Gattack, or his imagination? He wondered how close it had been to choosing him as a host, and was suddenly glad that it hadn't. If he was going to leave ZECT, after Makoto was rescued, then he needed not to be Gatack Zecter's host. Of course, he had to wondered why they'd gone through the trouble of forcing him into an attempt to bond with Gattack - after all, he'd been abandoned once - or abandoned, or both - TheBee. Why would he be considered reliable enough to bond to Gatack?

Maybe somebody high up, not his father, had decided that he was a good Zecter host after all and he just needed the right Zecter. He shuddered, and then remembered he was in the hospital with two other ZECT agents, both of which outranked him, both of which would probably think it was a great idea for him to be a Zecter host again. "No."

He coughed, and realized how dry his throat was. As if realizing this, Misaki-san poured him a cup of water. He took the water gratefully, sipping at it until he felt he could talk again.

"You still have a mimic out there," Misaki-san said, "So you have two guards outside."

He'd forgotten about the mimic, he realized. His hopes for getting Makoto out of there before the factory blew up were slim and none. If they wanted to prevent his fake from assuming his life, he would be guarded and escorted until they were sure the fake was dead. In the meantime, there was an innocent boy in that factory who didn't know that they were planning to blow his adopted home up.

Of course, he could hardly get in more trouble, given that he was going to leave the organization anyway, so maybe it was worth it to sneak out. "Kagami-kun," Misaki-san said, "You have a look on your face. Are you going to..."

"Makoto's still in there," Kagami said, to head the conversation in a different direction. He congratulated himself on not being that obvious on what he was thinking about, or at least trying to make it so people didn't realize he was talking about.

"Kagami-kun," Misaki-san said, "You're injured *and* you have a Worm mimicing you. Now's not the best time to go into a factory that's about to be blown up, and where your mimic was last seen."

"Misaki," Tadokoro-san said, "If he's that determined to go..." Kagami looked over, surprised to see his boss supporting him. Or kind of supporting him. "We shouldn't stop him." He turned to Kagami. "You wouldn't be Kagami if you didn't have your absolutely stupid moments, but you have to live your own life. And if you survive, and you want to leave, then that's your choice too."

Kagami felt like Tadokoro-san was trying to tell him something, but he had no clue as to what. But at least his boss approved of his plan, or at least thought he wouldn't get killed doing his plan, or maybe hoped that this might calm Kagami down a bit.

Of course, the whole thing depended on being able to sneak out of the hospital, and he could hardly involve Tadokoro-san and Misaki-san in that. Tadokoro-san thought he was being stupid and still supported him; it would be a good idea to do the whole thing independently. And Misaki-san was opposed, so he couldn't involve her. So he was going to have to do it alone.

And get the hell out of ZECT as soon as possible. There was a growing buzz in his head, having nothing to do with a concussion or any other medical condition. He had felt it briefly when he'd been forced into the container with Gatack Zecter; he was still connected enough to it to feel it in his mind. If he didn't get out of there, Gattack might make its choice before he resigned from ZECT, and then he'd have to figure out how to reject it.

Maybe he'd get lucky. Maybe he'd safe Mikoto and resign and Gatack would choose someone else. But a little voice in his head said he wasn't going to be so lucky, and maybe he might think about resigning there, in his hospital bed. After all, he'd be a civilian, and therefore safe... right?

But Kagami didn't say anything to Misaki-san and Tadokoro-san. Because some part of him still wanted to be a hero, and some part of him still wanted to save Makoto, mimic running loose or no.

And if he had to use Gattack, he would. He just hoped that the Zecter would let him go afterwards. After all, it seemed to have been just as confused as he had been. If the Zecter could see that he and it weren't meant to be, maybe it would leave him alone, and he didn't have to worry about being pressured as a host again.

When Misaki-san and Tadokoro-san were gone, he quietly removed his I.V. He slipped out of his room, heading down towards his apartment. He'd probably need something to keep him safe from the Zecter and from the Worm.

And then he realized that it wasn't safe to go after the Zecter again. He had a mimic, plus they'd probably have the place staffed. Plus he didn't really want to be beaten up by a small robot insect. That wouldn't do anything really good for his ego... or what was left of it after Tendou stepped all over it.

So, he finally fitted himself out and headed up towards the factory. If he could get Makoto out, then ZECT could blow up the building if they wanted to, and Makoto would be safe. And then he'd prove the boy was human.

Dodging ZECT troopers, he scaled up a wall and over it. He sneaked into the factory, avoiding the Worm as best he could. He was there to rescue, he reminded himself, not to go up against beings that could take him out easily.

"Kagami!" Makoto's soft cry was a welcome sound. "Kagami-san! Over here!"

With a rush of gladness, Kagami slid up and around the pipes until he was where Makoto was. "Let's get out of here," he said. "They're going to blow this place up."

"But my dad," Makoto cried.

"Um, probably dead," Kagami said awkwardly, as he led Makoto through the hallways towards the outside. Everything was going well.

"But..."

Kagami had no time to deal with that as his mimic stepped out in front of their path, a gloating smile on his face. Kagami hoped he never looked that scary when he gloated. "Makoto," he said, shielding the boy as his duplicate shimmered and changed to its true form.

And then he felt something enter his back, impaling him. He looked around to see that Makoto had suddenly sprouted eight spidery arms.

"So, you are a Worm," he murmured, and the Makoto-worm smiled. It occured to him that this had been a trap all along, because he would die and his duplicate would walk out of there, and everybody would die because they'd assume it was him, dumb Kagami, who got out of there before anything could happen and rescued the lone survivor besides.

He felt several more pointed arms punch through him, was aware that he was bleeding. He was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, and as his vision dimmed, he could see his duplicate hold out a hand to the Makoto worm. The two of them didn't spare him a glance as he lay there, too intent on getting out of the place before it blew up.

Well, nobody said that they were stupid.

He wished that someone would come out here, rescue him, stop the Makoto-worm and his duplicate.

In his fading consciousness, he heard someone. Something.

"Host!" it cried.


End file.
